1 
 
 Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 'f/
 
 A 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 THREE EVILS 
 
 OF 
 
 The Last Times : 
 
 I. The SwoRD^ 
 
 II. The Pestilence^ 
 
 III. The Famine ; 
 
 And of their 
 
 Natural and Moral Causes. 
 
 As also of the ensuing 
 
 Coming of ANTICHRIST; 
 
 According to the 
 
 Notion of the Ancient Fathers. 
 
 Originally published in 171 ]. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly ; 
 L. B. Seeley, Fleet-Street; and James 
 Duncan, 37, Paternoster- Row, 1826. 
 
 Price 8s.
 
 MERCHANT, PniNTKIt, INO RAM-COU RT, LONBON.
 
 THE CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Introduction 1 
 
 PART I. 
 
 § 1. The SWORD the proper Punishment of the 
 
 Lust of the Eye • 8 
 
 § 2. That this Judgment shall surely come 10 
 
 § 3. An Objection answered 17 
 
 § 4. A second Objection answered 18 
 
 § 5. The End or Design of those Desolations • • • • 21 
 § 6. The Region or Quarter where this Judgment 
 
 shall begin 23 
 
 § 7. A Remnant saved 28 
 
 § 8. The Manner of their Preservation considered •• 32 
 
 § 9. A Recapitulation of this whole First Part..* • 37 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The PESTILENCE 42 
 
 § 1. The Pride of Life 43 
 
 § 2. The Pride of Life further considered 44 
 
 § 3. That this Sin will be very rife in the last Days 47 
 
 § 4. That there shall be sore Diseases in the last Days 50
 
 / 
 
 THE CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 § 5. That these Diseases are the proper Punishments 
 
 of the Pride of Life 54 
 
 § 6. The material or instrumental Causes of them • • 59 
 
 § 7. That there shall be a Concurrence of these 
 
 Causes in the latter Days • QQ 
 
 § 8. Who they are that shall escape this Evil • • • • 69 
 
 PART III. 
 
 § 1. The FAMINE the proper Punishment of the 
 
 Lust of the Flesh ' 73 
 
 § 2. This Branch of Sin more particularly considered 75 
 
 § 3. That this Sin does usually produce this Punish- 
 ment • 77 
 
 § 4. That there shall be great and universal Famines 81 
 
 § 5. The Causes of this Evil excessive Heat. This 
 
 proved from Scripture • 8(> 
 
 BHghts, Mildews, &c. imputed to Heat 88 
 
 Devouring Insects produced by Heat 92 
 
 § 6. A Recapitulation of these three Evils ih. 
 
 § 7. A Remnant saved 94 
 
 § 8. The Manner considered 97 
 
 § 9. An Address to those vpho are unqualified for 
 
 Preservation 98 
 
 § 10. Of the other lesser Evils that shall prevail at 
 
 that time • <>•> lOO 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 § 1. The Word ANTICHRIST considered 107 
 
 § 2. The State of the Controversy concerning a 
 
 personal Antichrist 109 
 
 § 3. Of the mystical and natural Body of our Lord 110 
 
 § 4. Of the mystical and natural Body of Antichrist 111 
 § 5. That the Charge of Antichristianism cannot be 
 
 appropriated to the Church of Rome 117
 
 THE CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 § 6. The Authorities for the Proof of a personal 
 
 Antichrist 119 
 
 I. From Scripture ih. 
 
 Two Objections answered 121 
 
 II. From the ancient Fathers of the Church 123 
 
 III. From the Jews 124 
 
 § 7. The Types of Antichrist • • • ih. 
 
 § 8. His Birth and Parentage 129 
 
 § 9. That he shall come out of the Tribe of Dan . • 132 
 
 § 10. Of his Infancy 133 
 
 § 11. Of the Region where he shall first appear • • 134 
 
 § 12. His first Appearance and Conquest of the Ten 
 
 Kings 135 
 
 § 13. Of the Eastern Beast, or False Prophet • • • • 138 
 
 § 14. The Opposition that shall be made by the 
 
 Church 140 
 
 § 15. A Digression concerning the Restitution of 
 Spiritual Gifts and Miraculous Powers to 
 
 the Church 143 
 
 I. From Scriptures 144 
 
 II. From the Ancients • 146 
 
 § 16. The Opposition between the Christian and 
 
 Antichristian Characters 148 
 
 § 17. Antichrist's invading the East, and the Pro- 
 phecy of Joel explained in this Sense • • • • 149 
 
 § 18. Of his taking Jerusalem • 155 
 
 § 19. Some Personal Characters attributed to Anti- 
 christ in Scripture, viz. 158 
 
 His Blasphemy • ib. 
 
 Not regarding the Desire of Women 159 
 
 His Worshipping the God Maozzim ih. 
 
 His doing Wonders 160 
 
 § 20. The State of the World at that Time considered 163 
 § 21. Some Observations upon the preceding Quota- 
 tions and concerning the Mark of the Beast 170 
 
 § 22. Of the Two Witnesses 174
 
 viii THE CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 § 23. The Death of the Witnesses, and the End of 
 
 the Beast's Reign 181 
 
 § 24. Places of Holy Scripture alluding to the Reign 
 
 of Antichrist 184 
 
 § 25. The Destruction of Antichrist by the Effusion 
 
 of the Seven Vials 188 
 
 The Seven Vials distinctly considered 190 
 
 The Seventh Vial more distinctly considered; 
 as comprising under it Two great Events : 
 viz. • 
 
 I. The Great Earthquake which shall destroy 
 Rome and Jerusalem 197 
 
 II. The Battle of Armageddon 198 
 
 § 2G. Antichrist and the False Prophet taken and 
 
 cast into the Bottomless Pit ♦ 200
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following Treatise, especially that 
 Part of it which conceryieth The Antichrist, 
 being founded on Priticiples entirely different 
 from the Modern Opinions upon that Subject, 
 must not be sent into the World without a short 
 Preface, to engage the Favour and obviate the 
 Prejudices of the generality of Readers ; ivho 
 will be apt to condemn at first sight any thing, 
 that shall contradict the current Opinions, though 
 never so agreeable to the Traditions of the first 
 and purest Ages of the Church. This is evident 
 from the general Contempt thrown upon the 
 Ancient Fathers and Lights of the Church, 
 particularly as to their Notions of Catholic 
 Communion, Church Censures, and the Holy 
 Eucharist, concerning all which they delivered 
 their Opinions as plain as Words could make 
 them ; yet they are now forced to give way to 
 the inconsistent Schemes of giddy Innovators. 
 That most contemptibly dull Projector, the 
 Author of The Rights of the Christian Church, 
 has his Admirers, who set him up in opposition 
 to the old fashioned Doctrines of Jesus Christ 
 and his Apostles, as they were understood by 
 Ignatius, Justin, Irenseus, Tertullian, Cyprian, 
 and other Primitive Writers upoti those Sub- 
 jects.
 
 xii THE PREFACE. 
 
 I. FAR be it from ?ne that I should draw a 
 Parallel hetivixt those a?id the Case in hand, or 
 set those Controversies on the same foot with the 
 Subject of this Discourse ; either side of this 
 Question being at least Innocent, and having no 
 relation to the Essentials of Christianity : Where- 
 as, the Design of those is to destroy. Root and 
 Branch, the very Principles of Revealed Reli- 
 gion. JBut this, I must say, that I could never 
 yet conceive what Service it could do to the 
 Reformed Cause, to assert the Pope, or Church 
 of Rome, to be The Great Antichrist, in Oppo- 
 sition to the constant Doctrines of the Ancient 
 Church ; ivhereas I think, as on the one hand, 
 the acknowledging the Church of Rome to be a 
 most corrupt Church, and by consequence in that 
 Sense Antichristian, (as from my Heart I firmly 
 believe it is,) is sufficient to justify our Separa- 
 tion from her : So, on the other hand, the desert- 
 ing the Traditions of the Ancient Church, with- 
 out any Necessity Jor so doing, must needs have 
 prejudiced many a Learned arid Judicious Man; 
 who might thence be tempted to conclude, that 
 the Reformers, in other Cases as well as that, 
 despised the Doctrines of Antiquity, and were 
 for setting up new Lights and 7iew Interpreta- 
 tions of Scriptures, in Oppositio7i to those old 
 ones, which the most primitive Ages had esteemed 
 Orthodox. 
 
 II. St. Paul writing to the Thessalonians, 
 2 Epist. Chap. 2. concerning this Man of Sin, 
 or the Great Antichrist, gives them a special 
 Charge, v. 15. Therefore, Brethren, stand fast, 
 and hold the Traditions, which ye have been 
 taught either by our Word or Epistle; meaning.
 
 THE PREFACE. xiii 
 
 no doubt, especially the Traditions about the 
 Personal Antichrist. For that this was St. 
 Paul's Meaning, I have two very good Reasons 
 to believe. 1 . I presume it will puzzle a Learned 
 Man to explain that Chapter of the Pope or 
 Church q/'Rome so consistently as to satisfy his 
 own Mind. 2dly, Which is to me no contempti- 
 ble Authority, that all the Writers upon that 
 Subject, through every Age of the Church till 
 the Times of the Reformation, (begimiing with 
 the Waldenses and Albigenses,) understood it in 
 the same Sense, applying it (if not, in the same 
 that I do, to a Person yet to come) to some indi- 
 vidual Person to whom those Characters should 
 most properly belong. Atid how caji we other- 
 wise account for the concurrent Testimonies of 
 the Ancients about that matter, than by supposing 
 that this was the Tradition of the Apostles, par- 
 ticularly of St. Paul, to which he refers, v. 5. 
 Remember ye not that when I was yet with 
 vou, I told you these things. Arid that from 
 !iim and the other Apostles this Tradition was 
 conveyed down to after Ages ; particularly con- 
 'Idering that the most early Writers speak ex- 
 pressly in this Sense. Jrenseus, who ivas the 
 Disciple of Poly carp, and by consequence but 
 one remove from the teaching of St. John, Hip- 
 polytus the Disciple of Irenseus, Cyprian, 
 Origen, and Cyril o/' Jerusalem, are no incompe- 
 tent Wit7iesses of an Apostolical Tradition, and 
 are so appealed to in other Cases ; and ivhy in 
 this particular Case we should be iviser than 
 they, I confess I am at a loss to explain. 
 
 111. AND here I cannot but take notice of 
 an Objection raised by the Judicious and Learned
 
 xiv THE PREFACE. 
 
 Mr. Mede, and since revived hy Mr. Wbiston 
 in his Essay upon the Revelations, p. 239. 
 That the Authority of the Fathers in this Case 
 is not to be regarded, because the particular Time 
 for the Explication of the Doctrines concerning 
 Antichrist was not till these two last Centuries, 
 so famous for the Improvements of Learning ; 
 grounding their Opinion on those Words of the 
 Angel to the Prophet Daniel, Chap. 12. v. 4. 
 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the Words, and 
 seal the Book, even to the time of the End. 
 Many shall run to and fro, and Wisdom shall 
 be increased. Unde consequitur, (saith Mr. 
 Mede) Patrura Authoritatem in Negotio Anti- 
 christi, et novissimorum temporum (utut in aliis 
 multum iis tribuendum sit) omnino nullam 
 esse, utpote quorum setate Mysterium illud 
 juxta Angeli Prophetiam adhuc clausum et 
 obsignatum foret. Non igitur esse cur hie 
 Patrum opinationibus tantopere movearaur ut 
 nonnulli solent. Vid. App. p. 733. 
 
 TO this I ansiver, 1st. That it may very well 
 bear a Question, whether The Increase of Know- 
 ledge, mentioned by Daniel in this Place, be 
 meant of the Improvements of Mathematical, 
 Philosophical, and Philological Learning, for 
 which these two last Centuries have been more re- 
 markably famous ; which cannot very properly be 
 supposed to co7itribute to the Understanding the 
 Mysteries of the Kingdom of God. May not 
 then the Words Knowledge and Wisdom, the 
 increase ivhereof is foretold in this Prophecy, 
 signify more emphatically a Divine, Extraordi- 
 nary Light and Knowledge more fully to be 
 cominmiicated in succeeding Times, whereof' that 
 rational Leatming may be a Forerunner.
 
 THE PREFACE. xv 
 
 2clly, IF it prove that these 31ysteries could 
 not be known till these last Centuries^ then it 
 will follow that none of the Ancients kneiv them; 
 and by consequence St. Paul and St. John, luho 
 wrote professedly of these things, talked of ivhat 
 they did not understand: for if they understood 
 them, why might they not convey them down to 
 after Ages ; as we have good reason to believe 
 they did. 
 
 3dly, / am rather of the Opitiion of Mr. 
 AVhiston in this Point, ivho makes the great 
 Article of these Prophecies, whereof the Ancients 
 were ignorant, to be the understanding of the 
 Prophetical Numbers, and the adjusting the 
 Times of their Completion; and then though ive 
 grant that the Apostles and Ancient Fathers 
 knew not the precise Time of their Completion, 
 yet it does not thence follow, that they knew not 
 whether Antichrist was to be a single Perso?i, 
 or a collective Body. Let it then be grarited 
 that the Ancients knew not the Time of the 
 Completion of these Prophecies, because the Time 
 was not yet com£ ; would not an unwary Reader 
 be hence tempted to conclude, that the Time for 
 the understanding of them is 7iot yet come, be- 
 cause so many unsuccessful Attempts have been 
 made to fix every Event to a particular Time ? 
 And TYiay it not possibly happen that even Mr. 
 Whiston himself may in time be convinced, that 
 he knows as little of the Matter as St. Paul 
 himself did? I know not what use Mr. Mede 
 might make of the above-cited Observation. His 
 singular Modesty and Humility, as well as 
 great Judgment, persuade me that he could not 
 Tumke a bad one ; but whether others who pretend
 
 THE PREFACE. 
 
 to tread in his steps, may not hence be encouraged 
 to desert the Doctrines, and despise the Fathers, 
 of the Primitive Church, to set up new Opinions, 
 and to be wise above that which is written, ought 
 carefully to be consideied by those whom it may 
 concern. 
 
 IV. I do not here take upon me to censure the 
 Learned Labours of the many Great Men, who 
 have written in Defence of the contrary Doc- 
 trine; much less am I able to unravel their 
 Schemes of Apocalyptical Interpretation. My 
 business in this place is only to revive the Ancient 
 Doctrines of the Primitive Church, which I 
 cannot easily part with, though I am not able to 
 reconcile every part of the Apocalypse so as to 
 draw a coherent System of Prophecy. JBut if' 
 the Doctrine here contended for shall appear to 
 the Learned World a true and justifiable Doc- 
 trine, it may be improved and set in a clearer 
 Light by some more able Hand. 
 
 V. THE Reader, I hope, will not be offend- 
 ed, if he find up and down in this Essay several 
 Mystical Interpretations of Scripture, for most 
 of which lam not without great and good Autho- 
 rities. Hoiv justifiable such Allegorical Inter- 
 pretations of Scripture are in general, to pass 
 over the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, 
 may appear from St. Paul's Allegory of the two 
 Covenants, answering to Mount Agar and Mount 
 Sinai, Galatians 4. and in his Epistle to the 
 Hebrews, wherein he expoundeth a great part of 
 the Levitical Law in a Mystical and Spiritual 
 Sense; 7iot to say that the Hellenestic Philoso- 
 phy, ivhich ivas that of the New Testament, ivas
 
 THE PREFACE. xvii 
 
 chiefly of this sort, ivhich ivas closely folloived by 
 several of the most Aiicient Writers, as by 
 Origen, Eusebius, and Athanasius, in their 
 Commentaries on the Psalms a?id other Scrip- 
 tures. Whereas I have also in several places 
 offered at a 7nore particular Explication of the 
 Modes of some Events. The Reader, I hope, 
 will not censure me as Dogmatical, since I only 
 propose them as things probable according to 
 the Analogy of Scripture and Nature, not lay- 
 ing any stress upon them, much less proposing 
 them as undoubted Truths. 
 
 VI. HOJV seasonable a Discourse of this 
 nature may be at present, is but too evident to 
 any one that ivill but observe the prodigious in- 
 crease of Antichristian Principles, more parti- 
 cularly in this siiful Nation. For ivhat are all 
 those execrable Clubs and Societies, of Atheists, 
 Deists, and Freethinkers, which noiv swarm 
 amongst us, but Antichristian Spirits banded 
 toget/ier in a Diabolical Confederacy, to propa- 
 gate Infidelity, and subvert (if it be possible) 
 the very Principles of Religion! For this is 
 Antichrist (saith St. Jolm) that denieth the 
 Father and the Son, and whosoever denieth 
 the Son, the same hath not the Father. ] Ep. 
 Chap. 2. V. 22, 23. And this is done without 
 Fear or Restraint by the Scoffers of this Dege- 
 nerate Age, who Elaspheme the God of Heaven, 
 Contemn and Deride the Person and Doctrines 
 of the Blessed Jesus, and that in such a manner, 
 and ivith such Circumstances, as would not even 
 in a Mahometan Coimtry be suffered with Im- 
 punity. Rut because he is out of their reach 
 they assault him in his Priests, and in his Spouse 
 
 h
 
 xviii THE PREFACE. 
 
 the Church, whom ivith the most implacable 
 Malice they endeavour to Vilify and Destroy ; 
 by despising and affronting her Governors and 
 their Orders, and profaning her most Sacred 
 Institutions. These being Contemners of Reli- 
 gion, and owning no Obligations of ConsciencCy 
 a?-e by consequence presumptuous, selfwilled, de- 
 spise Government, and are not afraid to speak 
 Evil of Dignities. But let them know, that 
 though they speak great swelling Words against 
 God, and their Superiors in Church and State, 
 beguiling unstable Souls, and promising them 
 Liberty from Priestcrcft and Slavery, they them- 
 selves are but the wretched Slaves of Con^uption ; 
 and the vilest Advocates and Propagators of the 
 Antichristian Kingdom. And I pray God for- 
 give me if I am uncharitable in thinking that 
 these are the o» ^Airoxxif/.ivoi mentioned by St. 
 Paul.
 
 A SERMON 
 
 OR 
 
 HOMILY 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 ANTICHRIST, 
 
 AND THE END OF THE WORLD.
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 INCE this was ivritten, and just going to the 
 Press, there is come to hand the Oxford 
 Edition of I^phraim Syrns printed from the 
 Greek Bodleian MSS. a Thing so much desired, 
 and so long wished for by several Learned 31eny 
 {particularly by our Learned Countryman Dr. 
 Cave, that Great Assertor of Primitive Anti- 
 quity) for which the Church and Learned World 
 are indebted to Dr. Milles, a late eminent Orna- 
 ment of that University ; whom for his Noble 
 Work upon the JSew Testament, Posterity will 
 knoiv how to honour: Ey luhose Copy left behind 
 him after his Death, which he at his own Charge 
 had caused to be transcribed with all Exactness 
 from the said Manuscripts, this Impression is 
 made. In which there is a Pathetic Homily or 
 Discourse of the End of the World and the Coming 
 of Antichrist, which I am encouraged by some 
 Learned Friends who had the Revisal of these 
 Papers, to translate into our oivn Language, 
 and add to this Discourse as a most solemn and 
 Authentic Testimony of the Oriental Church, 
 (which ive are told had so high a Veneration for 
 the Writings of this Holy Father, as even to 
 read the same together ivith the Scriptures in 
 their sacred Assemblies,) in Co?i/irmation of the 
 Doctrines advanced, or rather revived, in this 
 Essay.
 
 XXI 
 
 A Sermon or Homily concerning 
 Antichrist, and the E^id of the 
 World, 
 
 HOW shall I Ephraim the meanest of the Pag. 359. 
 Servants of God, a Sinner laden with 
 Iniquities ; How shall I be able to instruct you 
 in Things that are above my Capacity. But 
 as our Blessed Saviour was pleased in mere 
 Mercy to instruct his illiterate Disciples in the 
 Mysteries of Wisdom, and by them to con- 
 vey Divine Light to all the Faithful : So he 
 will without Grudging bless me with the Gift 
 of Utterance, to the Comfort and Edification 
 both of me who am to speak, and all you that 
 are to hear. But I cannot preach to you with- 
 out Sighs, nor speak without Tears of the 
 approaching Consummation of all Things, and 
 of that most blasphemous and terrible Serpent, 
 who shall put the wliole Earth in Confusion, 
 and shall infuse Cowardice, Negligence, and 
 Infidelity into the Hearts of Men, and do Signs, 
 work Wonders and dreadful Sights, * insomuch * Mat. 21. 
 that if it tuere possible he should deceive the 24. 
 very Electa and seduce all Mankind by lying 
 Wonders and miraculous Appearances that 
 shall be wrought by him. For by the Per- 
 
 b2
 
 xxii ^7: EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 mission of the Righteous God he hath Power 
 to deceive the World, because the Measure 
 of their Iniquities is fdled up, and all Places 
 are full of all Kinds of Abomination. And 
 for this Cause the Holy God will suffer the 
 World to be tempted by the Spirit of Error 
 because of their Iniquities, because Men have 
 forsaken the God of Truth, and loved a Lie. 
 My Brethren, great will be the Tribulation of 
 the last Days, especially to the Faithful. When 
 Signs and Wonders shall be wrought by this 
 Old Serpent with great Power. When he 
 shall again show himself, as if he were God, 
 in dreadful Operations, (a) flying to and fro 
 in the Air with Legions of evil Spirits, accom- 
 panying him as ministering Angels to this ter- 
 rible Tyrant. For he roareth mightily, ap- 
 
 (a) Even as Simon Magus, a' Type and Forerunner 
 of hiuQ, is represented flying in the Air, and thereby op- 
 posing- the Gospel of Ciirist, as preached by St. Peter : 
 And as the same is' also reported concerning Apollonius, 
 another Representative of him, and other dark Ma- 
 gicians, Ancient and Modern. Whence one of our 
 Modern Pseudo-Prophets was, it seems, not vpell ad- 
 vised by the Spirit which acted him, not to content 
 himself with the Power of walking upon the Water, as 
 Christ; but to lay claim likewise to a Promise o( fly- 
 ing in the Air, according to the express Characteristic 
 of Antichrist and his Apostles. This is very agreeable 
 to the Devil, being called in Scripture the Prince of the 
 Air, and to his Transportation of our Blessed Lord, 
 when tempted by him, from the Wilderness to the Pinacle 
 of the Temple in Jerusalem; if that were a Real and 
 External Transaction, as commonly is supposed, and not 
 merely transacted in Spirit.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WOULD. xxiii 
 
 pearing in Variety of Forms, to the unspeak- 
 able Amazement of all Mankind. Who, my 
 Brethren, will then be found standing bold and 
 unshaken, having the (b) Seal in his Heart, 
 
 (b) There is a twofold Seal : viz. The Seal in the 
 Heart, and the Seal in the Forehead. The former pre- 
 cedes the latter, and is the Cause of it. The latter 
 follows this, and is the external visible Sign thereof; 
 which is to be imprinted by an Angelical Power in the 
 last Days upon ail the true Followers of Christ, to 
 distinguish them, even outwardly, from the Follow- 
 ers of Antichrist. Of the former St. Paul has made 
 sufficient mention, 2 Cor. i. 22, saying, Who hath SEALED 
 us, and given the Earnest of the Spirit in our Hearts : 
 and again, Eph. i. 13. Iti whom (i. e. Christ) tje were 
 SEALED ivith that holy Spirit of Promise. And iv. 
 Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are SEAL- 
 ED, unto the Day of Redemption. And of the latter St. 
 John has made like mention, calling it emphatically the 
 Seal of the living God ; and that with a particular respect 
 had to the Time of Antichrist. See Rev. vii. 2, 3-9, and 
 ix, 4. Now as for the outward and visible Seal, where- 
 with Baptized Christians were at Confirmation anciently 
 sealed, and which was for a sensible Sign oi' the inward 
 and invisible Seal of the Heart; it was certainly no 
 other than the Sign itself of the Son of Man, or of 
 Christ considered in his Humanity, being as a Coun- 
 terpart to the said Seal of the living God, or of the 
 same Christ considered in his Deity. Thus the First 
 Sealing was to be chiefly into the Merit of Christ's Death ; 
 but the Second is to be into the Power of his Resurrec- 
 tion. Accordingly the visible '£(p^ct.yU of Cliristianity 
 which was given in the Primitive Church, by the 
 Ministry of the Ecclesiastical Angels, was the anoint- 
 ing the Forehead with Oil, and making therewith the 
 Sign of the Cross thereupon. Whence o-^p^ayifw and 
 i7(p^a.y\^o^on are thus used in Ecclesiastical Authors; 
 and even St. Paul himself may possibly allude hereto
 
 xxiv ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 the Holy Appearance of the Only Begotten 
 Son of God ! When he shall see that mi- 
 
 in that remarkable Passage, Rom. xv. 28. And it is very 
 observable that Christ Himself is the First of the Sealed 
 Ones, according to his own Word, TStoi/ y«p o Tlo[{n^ 
 i(T(p^a,yKjiv, 0EO{, Joh. vi. 27. Whence by this 
 Divine Sealing, and Powerful Inauguration, he may 
 with respect even to his Mediatory Office, no less than 
 to his Divine Nature, as He is the Only Begotten of 
 the Father, be called Xa^otiilyip t?? vvocrlua-eu^ ocvtS : And 
 it is the holy Appearance of this Only Begotten Son of 
 God in the Heart, which is the Secret and Invisible 
 Seal wherewith we first must be sealed ; that so we 
 may be fitted for the second Sealing, viz. that on the 
 Forehead, against his second Coming and glorious Ap- 
 pearance from Heaven, Outwardly to all the World. 
 Wherefore by the First we are Sealed to be as the 
 express Image of His Person, even as He is of the Father's 
 Person, through the impressed Character of his Nature 
 and Life in us : And to as many as shall attain this, 
 and thereby overcome the Power of Satan, it re- 
 mains that Christ, whom they are made to represent, 
 and of whom they are living Images, should fulfil the 
 Promise which he has made to his conquering Saints, 
 Rev. iii. 12. Which is to be effected by that Eastern 
 Angel, to whom the i:<p^a.y]q ©ea ^mli^ shall for 
 that End be by Him committed; and which, not without 
 a wonderful Propriety of Speech, He calls the Inscrip- 
 tion of the Name of HIS GOD, and of the Name of the 
 CITY of His God: For he speaks this in his Human 
 Capacity, and as raised from the Dead: And in the 
 Words there is an evident Relation to the State of the 
 First and Blessed Resurrection. But however tliis may 
 be now esteemed, it was no such strange thing in the 
 earliest Days of Christianity; and particularly among 
 the Oriental Christians, in the midst of whom this Holy 
 Father was a Bright Star in his Day : And both the First 
 and Second ^e'dVinrr iif ^^rjv ocIu^hov were most significantly 
 expressed by the Ancient Forms of Confirmation, as may 
 bt seen.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxv 
 
 speakable Tribulation that shall come upon 
 every Soul, without any Prospect of Rest or 
 Consolation either by Land or Sea ; When he 
 shall see the whole World in Confusion, and 
 every one shall be fleeing to the Mountains for 
 Shelter, when he shall see some perishing w ith 
 Hunger, and others melting like Wax at 
 the great Tribulation, and none to pity 
 them. When he shall see all Faces cover- 
 ed with Tears, and asking with great 
 Earnestness, Is there any (c) Word of 
 God upon Earth? and it shall be answer- 
 ed, No. Who shall be able to bear those 
 Days, who shall stand under this insup- 
 portable Affliction ? When he shall see 
 the confused Multitudes coming from the 
 
 (c) See this general Famine of the World ultimate- 
 ly prophesied of Amos viii. 11, 12, Nevertheless here 
 by Earth is not to be understood the whole Terrestrial 
 Globe, but the Kingdom of Antichrist only, or the whole 
 Extent of his Empire, which in the Prophetical Lan- 
 guage is called Earth, as in opposition to the Kingdom 
 of Christ, wheresoever that may be. either in Heaven 
 or upon Earth, being in the same Language generally 
 called Heaven. For thus the Apocalyptical Interpreters 
 commonly understood the Church to be symbolised 
 by Heaven, even while it remains upon Earth, ac- 
 cording to the Rules of Hieroglyphical Literature. And 
 thus, not without good Reason, is a Wo so solemnly 
 proclaimed against the Inhabitants of the Earth; that is, 
 all those that live under the Antichristian Empire, Rev. 
 viii. 13, which Empire not improbably may be included 
 within the Limits of the old Roman Empire, or there- 
 abouts ; and v.'hich was also called oixajiAsvj), by our Tran- 
 slators rendered the World. See Luke ii. 1. Acts xi. 28. 
 Rev. xvi. 14.
 
 ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 Ends to behold this Tyrant, and many 
 worshipping before him, and crying out 
 with Amazement, Thou art our Saviour. 
 The Sea roareth, the Earth is burnt up, 
 the Heavens do not rain, and the Fruits 
 of the Earth wither! Then they that are 
 in the East shall flee into the West, and 
 they of the West shall run with Terror 
 into the East to escape the Evils! Then 
 shall this Blasphemer exert his Power, 
 and send his (d) evil Spirits into all Na- 
 tions, to make public Proclamation, 
 saying, A Great King hath appeared in glory^ 
 come and see him. Who then will have a 
 Heart so hard, as to be able to bear up 
 with Courage against so great Abomina- 
 
 ( d) That is, in like manner as Christ did send his 
 holy Spirit, which is One, out into all Lands, as the 
 same did rest upon, and was transfused through his 
 Apostles ; even so shall this Deceiver send forth his 
 Evil Spirits, which are many, to make every where 
 loud Proclamation of his Kingdt)m and Glory, by 
 possessing chosen Instruments for his Purpose, and 
 speaking through them as his Oracles, Apostles, and 
 Ambassadors. By these Spirits therefore we are here 
 to understand the Inspired by them, or the Pseudo- 
 Prophets and Pseudo-Apostles ; of whom fair warn- 
 ing is given us both by Christ and his Apostles. They 
 are called the Spii'its of Devils, or of Demons; and are 
 represented by our great Evangelical Prophet, as be- 
 ing of three different Kinds ; but to show that theie is 
 to be a sort of Egyptian Magic, whereby their Minis- 
 tration shall chiefly display itself in Public, he gives 
 a most fit resemblance of them under the Figure 
 of Frogs, as if they were generated out of the Mud of 
 Nilus.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxvii 
 
 tions? Who is that Man (as I said before) 
 that all the Angels of God may bless him? 
 For I (my Brethren, Lovers of Christ, 
 and (e) perfect) tremble at the Thoughts 
 of this Deceiver, when I but think within 
 myself of the Tribulations of these last 
 Times. For howsoever mischievous and 
 cruel this Old Dragon may be to all Man-|/ 
 kmd, yet will he be more furious against a^rS, i. e. 
 the Saints, who shall be able to overcome Spectra, 
 t his Terrors. For there shall be many ^'^^ *^'^"" 
 found at that Day, who being dear to God j" ^^"i 
 shall be preserved in Mountains, and xi'v. 26. 
 Hills, and desert Places, * because of ^/«r. vi.49. 
 their many Prayers and terrible Com- ^ppariti- 
 plaints. For the Holy God beholding f!*' , 
 their inexpressible Mourmngs, and Sin-;^^^^^- 
 cerity of their Faith, will show Compas- 7is-s<Tt, &c. 
 sion towards them, as a tender Father, 
 
 (e) By Perfect is here to be understood an Order 
 among the Primitive Christians, not that was wholly 
 excepted from every Spot of Sin (as some of our Modern 
 Perfectists do understand the Word) but that was ad- 
 mitted to the most perfect and highest Degree of the 
 Communio7i of Saints, in the Church of Christ ; and 
 that was not only instructed in the first Rudiments and 
 Elements of Christianity, which were sufficient for Sal- 
 vation, but were initiated also into the Mysteries atid 
 Arcana oi our most Holy Religion, Among the Number 
 of these Mysteries I reckon this Doctrine concerning 
 Antichrist and his Kingdom to be one : And hence we 
 may infer, that this was not at first to be promiscuously 
 communicated to all Christians, but only to those of the 
 most perfect Order and Rank in the Church. And to 
 such as these this Discourse of St. Ephrem seems prin- 
 cipally to be addressed.
 
 xxviii ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 and will preserve them where they have 
 been hidden. For this Accursed One 
 shall be continually searching after these 
 Holy Souls by Land and Sea, reckoning 
 that he has now established his Domi- 
 nions over the whole Earth, and brought 
 all the Inhabitants thereof into Subjection 
 under him. Nor does he question with 
 himself but that he shall be able to with- 
 stand that dreadful Hour, when the Lord 
 shall descend from Heaven, not consider- 
 ing his own Weakness and Pride by which 
 he at first fell. Then shall he disturb the 
 World, and strike an universal Terror 
 by the lying Wonders of his false Magic. 
 In his time there shall be no Rest upon 
 Earth! But great Tribulation, Trouble, 
 and Confusion, Pestilences, and Famines 
 to all the Ends of the Earth. For thus 
 Mat. xxiv. saith the Lord, There has not been the like 
 Vj ... Ji'om the beginning of the Creation. And how 
 ^g '"■ shall we sinful Wretches explain the ex- 
 ceeding Terrors of that Time, which the 
 Lord himself hath told us are inexpressi- 
 ble? Let every one therefore fix his mind 
 stedfastly upon the Holy Scriptures of our 
 Lord and Saviour, knowing that of his 
 Mercy towards us, because of the exceed- 
 ing Danger and Trouble, he will shorten 
 the Days of this Affliction. For thus he 
 Mat. xxiv. warns us all, saying, Praij that your flight 
 20. Luke jjQ ^qi Iji iiiQ njifiter, nor on the Sabbath-dau : 
 and agam, Watch and pray always, that ye 
 may be thought tvorthy to escape this Tribula- 
 tion, and to stand before the Son of Man.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxix 
 
 For the (f) Time is at hand, and we all 
 stand in the (g) Antichristian Spirit, and 
 believe it not. Let us pray earnestly with 
 Tears and Supplications, Night and Day, 
 
 (f) By the Time being at hand we are to understand 
 no more, tlian that the Mystery of Antichristianism was 
 then already at work in the Lifetime of this Holy Father ; 
 and that by the working of this Mystery, it was highly 
 probable that the Personal Revelation of Antichrist 
 would soon follow the Spiritual. But he not knowing 
 how long the Spiritnal Revelation of Antichrist was to 
 endure, might easily apprehend that the Personal could 
 not be far off, since the other was actually present, and 
 clearly discernible. Moreover, if there was a Mistake 
 in the Anticipation of the Time, it is no more than what 
 was in the very Days of the Apostles; and wherein they 
 themselves might also be in part overtaken, without the 
 least Prejudice thereby to the Divine Authority of their 
 Inspirations, so far as they concern the Doctrine itself. 
 See the Commentators upon 1 Thess. iv. 15, 17. 2 Thess. 
 ii. 2. 
 
 (g) Hence it manifestly appears, that according to 
 our Author's Sense, there must be a Spiritual as well 
 as a Bodily Manifestation of Antichrist, whereof that 
 ought to precede and make way for this ; since even 
 in his time he was convinced that the generality of 
 Christians had apostatized from their first Love, and did 
 stand in an Antichristian Spirit, though at the same time 
 they could 7iot believe if, but did look on themselves 
 as good Christians. For his plain meaning is, that 
 there was a Mystery of Antichristianism then actually 
 working in the Professors of the Christian F'aith, the 
 Operation whereof was so secret, as to be hidden from 
 themselves ; and which was Preparatory to the Last 
 and Greatest Manifestation of the Power of the Devil 
 in the Person of Antichrist, his Seed and Image, as that 
 Man of Sin, and the Perfection of that Diabolical Mystery 
 in the Flesh.
 
 XXX Sr. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 falling down before God, that we Sinners 
 may be saved in that Day. Whosoever 
 therefore has the Gift of Tears and godly 
 Sorrow, let him beseech the Lord, that we 
 may be delivered from this Distress wiiich 
 is coming upon the whole Earth ! That 
 he may neither see this terrible Beast, nor 
 hear his Terrors. For there shall be Fa- 
 mines, and Earthquakes, and Variety of 
 Diseases over all the Earth. Then will 
 it show a courageous Spirit to make even 
 Life itself supportable in the midst 
 of these Distresses. For if a Man be 
 found never so little remiss, he will be 
 easily assaulted, and carried away captive 
 by the lying Wonders of this wicked 
 deceiving Serpent. Such a one shall not 
 be forgiven in the Day of Judgement. 
 For his (h) Face shall discover, that be 
 
 (h) The Face is very often an Index of the Mind, 
 even in this present cloudi/ State wherein we live ; and 
 therefore it ought not to appear so strange, what seems 
 here supposed by our Author, that in the Day of 
 Judgement, when all Things shall be nakedly exposed 
 as they in truth are, that the whole Inwanl State of 
 the Soul shall most clearly display itself in the Coun- 
 tenance : So that the Disciples and Followers of Anti- 
 christ shall palpably discover themselves by their 
 very Looks: And it shall be then clearly discernible, 
 who have taken the due Precautions, and who have 
 not, in trying the Spirits which go forth in the Name 
 of Christ, and with the highest Pretences set up them- 
 selves in the Temple of God ; both by the darkness of 
 their Aspect, and by the outward Mark and Character 
 also of the Seat of Antichrist diabolically imprinted on
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxxi 
 
 willingly believed the Deceiver. Belo- 
 ved, we have need of many Prayers and 
 Tears, that any of us may stand stedfast 
 in the Day of Temptation. For many 
 are the wonderful Works that shall be 
 wrought by this Beast ! For he, being the 
 Enemy of God, will endeavour to accom- 
 plish an universal Destruction. For this 
 End he will endeavour to make all Men 
 receive his (i) Mark, when he comes in 
 
 their Faces, in the most eminent Part thereof. This 
 Antichristian Mark, with the gloomy Saturnine Cloud 
 sitting upon their Brow; whereby their express Com- 
 pact with Satan, and his Vicegerent Antichrist, is de- 
 noted and testified to the World ; must be undoubt- 
 edly such an Infallible Mark of Discrimination in the 
 last Days, as it shall not be possible for the Faithful, 
 elected out of the World, and having the Seal of Faith, 
 to be deceived even with all the deceivableness of Un- 
 righteousness in the Appearance of Antichrist and his 
 Apostles. 
 
 (ij Concerning this Antichristian Mark there is no 
 suflScient Keason alleged why it may not be an exter- 
 nal and visible Mark or Character, or why we should 
 here recede from the Literal to a Metaphorical Sense, 
 when there is not the least Inconvenience following 
 the former ; and this latter is so strained, and attended 
 with so many Difficulties, as will presently appear to 
 every Impartial, Considerer. This external and visi- 
 ble Character of the Antic hristians, as the Sign of the 
 internal and invisible Seal of the Spirit of Antichrist 
 in their Hearts, is to be imprinted not once, but twice, 
 for the more firm Binding of the Subjects, on whom the 
 Impression thereof is made. The two Impressions are 
 upon the Hand and the Forehead, Rev. xiii. 16. The 
 Military Mark of Antichrist is the first of these, accord- 
 ing to the Ancient Custom of stigmatizing Soldiers in the
 
 xxxii ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 his appointed Time to deceive the World 
 
 by his Miracles, till the Number of his 
 
 tnSvElJo^ Days shall be accomplished. That so they 
 
 XuaTant "^^y "^"y ^<'^^' ^"^ t the Pleasures of 
 form or Life. And the Rulers of the People do ac- 
 Image. It complish his Design. My Brethren, be- 
 waShowo/^are of the * Exaltation of this Beast! 
 rJther7han ^^^ ^^^ Artifices are Diabolical. Observe 
 Pleasure ii- ^ow he begins with the Belly ; that when 
 self; and a Man is pinched for want of Food, he 
 theRepre- jQ^y be Compelled to receive his Mark: 
 sentation 0/ jy^^ as it miffht be upon every Member 
 rather than of his Body, but in his (i) right Hand, 
 theThing it- and upo'n his (k) Forehead, shall he re- 
 
 self. From 
 whence is 
 
 Erasm in 1 
 
 Cor. viii. 4 Hand. Hence Aetius the Physician, having occasion to 
 Simula- make mention of such sort of Marks in the Flesh, hath 
 cnrum est these Words : Erty/AaT* xa?v5<ri ra, IttI tuv 'mq^avuicH, h aXAa 
 vox Jjatma a -j-jy^j f*epa? twv cwftaro? Itny^ocipo^ivoi,, olct tov aT^cclevoj/.ivav iv 
 Simtilando ; tS.i<; xepsi. And Radulplms Flaviacensis in his 14th 
 Idolon Book upon Leviticus, explaining that Precept of the Lave, 
 
 Graeca, ab Ye shall not print any MARKS upon you: I am the 
 ils(^, Spe- LORD ; Lev. xix. 28, gives hereof this Reason, Stigmata 
 cies, quod dicebantur qucedam Signa, quce in MAN I BUS Militum 
 speciem & Jlehant ; ut de militia Imperatoris esse cognoscereniur. 
 iraaginera Prohihet ergo ne hujusmodi Characteres facerent sibi, qtii- 
 manem, prw bus hnmanam videantur profiteri subjectionem, qui divinam 
 se lerat, professi sunt potius servitutem. And hence was also the 
 quum absit Constitution of Gregory the Great, Ne quis MANU 
 Veritas. Signatus, ante expletam Militiam in Monasteriis recipere- 
 TiJ" tur. Whence likewise in the Notitia utriusque Imperii, 
 
 ij-jt\^Qo-Knv, 2 we have the Names of the Honorians, the Theodosians, 
 Cor. IV. 7, the Conslantians, and others, who were such Soldiers as 
 I'' had received in their Hand, or in their Arm, the Mark of 
 
 that Emperor under whom they served. 
 
 (k) The Servile IMark of Antichrist is that upon the 
 Forehead ; whicli is to he distinguished from the fore-
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxxiii 
 
 ceive this Hellish Mark, that he may 
 not be able with his right Hand to 
 make the (k) Sign of the Cross, nor im- 
 
 going, as implying a great deal more than it : The one 
 of these Marks is less visible, the other is to be seen of 
 all ; the one is the Badge of a Warfare that is to have 
 an End at a certain Period, but the other of perpetual 
 Servitude, of a Slavery never to have End ; and the one, 
 I think, may hence be called a deliable, but the other an 
 indeliable Character. To which may be well applied that 
 of Suidas, speaking of the Father of Sion, who had been 
 a Slave, Ov 'mgoawKov, aXKa. a-vyy^afpriti Itt* tuv 'W^oaru/Tra, rn; ruv 
 ^Eo-Tz-ora •E7ix^i«? crvfxQo>^ov. Voc. 'EvjaQ, And Petronius 
 speaking of Eumolpus, says agreeably, Implevit FRON- 
 TED! utriusque ingentibus Literis, Whence a Slave 
 bearing such a Mark in his Forehead, is called Literatus 
 by Plautus, in his Casin. Act II. Sc. 6, and FRONTE 
 notatus by the Epigrammatist. Mart, Lib, 3. Also FRON- 
 TES Literati by Apuleius, after the same manner as 
 Literarum nota per summam ORIS contumeliam inusti, by 
 Valerius Maximus, are thus applied to denote the deplo- 
 rable Estate of those condemned Bondslaves who are 
 stigmatized in the Face or Forehead. To which also 
 Clemens Alexandrinus and Chrysostom do allude : And 
 Cardinal Cajetan, according to them, thus explains St. 
 Paul ; Ad similitudinem servorum gestantium in FACIE 
 impressam noiam Dominorum inustione ferri factamf descri- 
 bit se Paulus portare manifeste in corpore suo, non unam, 
 sed multas impressas notas Domini Jesu. Comra. in Gal. 
 vi. 17. Wherefore the Difference betwixt this tivqfold 
 Mark of Antichrist, viz. in the Hand and the Forehead, or 
 Military and Servile, may deserve well to be heeded. 
 For they that receive his Mark but in the Hand only, are 
 not thereby absolutely out of all possibility of being reco- 
 vered again : but they that shall be so unhappy as to re- 
 ceive it in their Forehead also, will thereby be sealed to 
 Destruction together with him, without the least possibili- 
 ty of an Escape remaining ior them. What manner of 
 Diabolical Mark this shall be in the Flesh of these Anti-
 
 xxxiv ST.tlPHREMSYRUS 
 
 press on his Forehead the Holy Name of 
 the Lord, or the Glorious and Venerable 
 Cross of Christ our Saviour. For the 
 Deceiver knoweth, that the (I) Sign of 
 the Cross, if it be made, destroyeth all 
 
 christians, either in the Hand or in the Face, to distinguish 
 them from Christians at the first sight, we cannot be 
 certain : But most probable it is, that there shall be some- 
 what of Darkness and Deformity in it not to be dissem- 
 bled, with something suited to express their highest Con- 
 tempt of the Cross of Christ, and Abjuration of his Name 
 and Doctrine, 
 
 (I) This seems to have been a sort of Social Tessera 
 and Characteristic among the First Christians, whereby 
 they could all know one another, without discovering 
 themselves to the Heathens, in whose Company they 
 might be ; and could also undiscovered silence their 
 Demons in their Temples, put a stop to their Sacrificial 
 OflSces, loose such as were Bound by Satan, and after 
 several manners destroy and frustrate the Works of the 
 Devil, looking earnestly through Faith at the same time 
 up to JESUS, as treading upon the Serpent's Head by 
 his Death for Man on the Cross : Who, according to the 
 African Father, 
 
 Serpentis Spolium, devicto Principe Mundi, 
 Affijcit Ligno, refugarum immane Tropeum. 
 
 See Tertullian against Marcion, and his Apology; with 
 what Justin Martyr and Minucius Foelix have said hereof, 
 in their Apologies for Christianity : As also what Origen 
 in his Commentaries, St. Cyril in his Catechise, St. Basil 
 in his Treatise of the Holy Ghost, St. Chrysostom upon 
 St. Matthew, the Ancient Book of the Ecclesiastical 
 Hierarchy, under the Name of St. Dionysius ; and what 
 the Apologists of the Church of England for the Use of 
 the Cross in Baptism have produced in Honour of this 
 Sacred Sign.
 
 OF THE END OF TH^ WORLD. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 his Power. 
 Mark 
 
 on 
 
 and therefore 
 the (m) right 
 
 he will set his 
 Hand ; for by 
 
 (m) The Reason which is here twice given for the 
 Impression of a Diabolical Mark upon the Right Hand 
 deserves not to be slighted : But there is also another 
 •which is coincident with it, and may be as Old as the 
 Days of Samuel at least, and that is, that this Hand is 
 the Symbol of Power, and consequently of Victory also, 
 whence the Sign thereof was anciently used both by 
 Jews and Heathens for a Trophy, or for a Monument of 
 good Success, as appears from the Sacred Writer of 
 the First Book of Samuel, and from David also in seve- 
 ral of his undoubted Psalms, with respect to the former; 
 and for the latter Lipsius may be consulted, and Sfewe- 
 chius upon Vegetius, with other Learned Critics that have 
 written De Re Militari. Particularly it is observable, 
 that the Monument or Trophy which King Saul erected 
 for his Victory over the Amalekitcs, was set up upon this 
 very Supposition, and took thence also its Denomination, 
 as you may see in 1 Sam. xv. 12, where in our Version it 
 is, He set him up a Place, and in the Vulgar Latin, 
 Erexisset sibi forniceni triumphalem ; but in the Original 
 it is n» ffw Hand, and the LXXII have accordingly ren- 
 dered the Place u.viaTa.y.tv uvTu xsifa : And that this also 
 was no other than the Right Hand, is pretty plain, upon 
 an Allusion thereto of David, upon his Victory over the 
 Edomites, in Ps. Ix. 4, 5, 6. See likewise for this, Ps. 
 cvi. 2t», Isa. xlix. 22, Ezek. xvi. 27, xxi. 22, and Zach. 
 ii. 9. And compare Ps. cix. 6, with Zach. iii. 1, which 
 bear an express Relation to this Satanical Power. The 
 Mark of which Power received in the Right Hand is 
 probably to be a Bloody Mark, being no other than a 
 Diabolical Consecration, and therefore not without sprink- 
 ling of Blood, 1 think, if no more. Consider Exod. xxix. 
 10, Lev. viii. 23, 24, and xiv. 14, 17. Perhaps also it 
 may be on the Thumb of that Hand for the same Reason; 
 as likewise for that other which is here given. Moreover, 
 it is an Observation ai Servius, that the Right Hand was 
 of Old consecrated to the Goddess Fides, as all the 
 
 C
 
 xxxvi ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 that we make Impressions on any Part of 
 our Bodies : So also our Forehead bears 
 aloft the Mark of our Blessed Saviour, 
 like a bright Candle set up upon a Can- 
 dlestick. In short, my Brethren, it will 
 be a terrible Trial to all sincere Lovers 
 of Christ, to persevere resolutely to the 
 Hour of Death, and not stand in suspense, 
 when this Evil Serpent is sealing with his 
 Mark, instead of the Cross of our Saviour. 
 For thus will he endeavour that the (n) 
 Name of Christ may not be so much as 
 named at that Time. For, being weak 
 himself, he does this out of Fear and Dread 
 of the Holy Power of our Saviour. If a 
 Man receive not his Mark, he is free from 
 his Power: Such a one the Lord will not 
 forsake, but enlighten him, and draw him 
 to himself. My Brethren, we must care- 
 fully observe, that the Operations of this 
 Enemy are cruel and unmerciful ; where- 
 
 Members of the Human Body were appropriated to some 
 particular Deity or other, Ad Lib. 3, JEneid. And this 
 is taken notice of by the late Baron Spanheim in his lid 
 Dissertation, De Freest. S^ Usu Numism. and may afford 
 not a little Light to this Antichristian Sacrament, if well 
 weighed. 
 
 (n) The Ground of this Prohibition is to be found 
 in Mar. xvi. 17, and Phil, ii, 9, 10. For there is in 
 the very Name of Christ when uttered, as well as in 
 the Sign of Christ when made by Faith, a certain irresis- 
 tible Force too strong for the Gates of Hell to oppose. 
 Wherefore the Sealing of Antichrist with his Mark, is on 
 purpose to prevent, if possible, what is feared by biin 
 from this Holy Name and Sign.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxxvii 
 
 as the Spirit of God comes to us in a (o) 
 calm and gentle Manner, to oppose, throngh 
 us, the Artifices of the Serpent. If we 
 preserve an unshaken Faith in the Lord 
 Jesiis, we shall destroy the Power of the 
 Enemy, we shall preserve a stedfast Re- 
 solution and Constancy, and he shall grow 
 weak, and depart from us, not being able 
 to hurt us. I, who am the meanest of 
 you all, beseech you, Brethren and Lo- 
 vers of Christ, that ye be not faint-hearted, 
 but be more and more strengthened in 
 the Power of the Cross. Unavoidable 
 Affliction is at the Door. Let us all take 
 the Shield of Faith. Be ye all ready as 
 faithful Members of Christ's Family, that 
 ye may receive no other Master. For 
 seeing this Thief, the Accursed One, this 
 Tyrant will come before the Appearance 
 of the Blessed Jesus in Glory, intending 
 to plunder, to kill, and to destroy the 
 chosen Flock of the true Shepherd Christ 
 
 (o) There cannot be a truer and juster Observation 
 than this, that whereas the Evil Spirit did fall upon the 
 Person possessed generally in a fierce and violent manner, 
 and often did express something that was very Savage and 
 Unmerciful, as well as Extravagant, and Preposterous, 
 both in the Manner of the Delivery, and in the Oracle 
 itself; it was quite otherwise with the good Spirit, whose 
 Inspirations are calm and gentle, as the Dove, Maimoni- 
 des in his More Nevochim, and Cardinal Bona in his 
 Book De Discretione Spirituum, have very useful Re- 
 marks upon this Subject. See The History of Montanism, 
 Art. II. Sect. 4, and Art. IV. and VII. 
 
 C2
 
 xxxviii ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 Jesus; Let us be instructed, my Friends, 
 in what Manner this shameless Serpent 
 shall appear amongst us. For as our 
 Blessed Saviour designing to save Man- 
 kind, was born of a Virgin, and in our 
 Human Nature beat down our Enemy 
 by the Holy Power of his Divinity: 
 So the Enemy has contrived to assume his 
 Manner of Appearance, and deceive us. 
 Our Lord shall descend in bright Clouds, 
 like a terrible Flash of Lightning, upon 
 the Earth : But the Deceiver after an- 
 other Fashion. For he is an Apostate. 
 The Organical Body in which he shall 
 act, shall be exquisitely formed out of the 
 Womb of some (p) accursed young Har- 
 
 Cp) As Christ was conceived in the Womb of a pure 
 immaculate Virgin, and was born a True Man of the 
 Seed of the Woman; so the Father thinks that Antichrist 
 shall be conceived in the Womb of a most impure and 
 abominable Strumpet, or of some accursed Witch ; and 
 that when he shall be born of her he shall be a very Devil 
 Incarnate, as born of the Seed of the Serpent ; yet not 
 incarnated in a strict and proper Sense, as having more in 
 him of the Devil than of the Man. Whereby we are to 
 understand, that since Christ really took upon him the 
 Human Nature, and was in the most proper Sense Incar- 
 nated in our Mortal Flesh, Antichrist must herein fall 
 short of Christ, as not being able to assume that Nature 
 Hypostatically, which did now of right belong to Christ 
 only by virtue of his Assumption of it. It seems there- 
 fore to be his Opinion, that Antichrist shall have indeed 
 a Real and Organical Body, and shall appear in all 
 Things like unto others in the Form of Man ; but that the 
 Dragon, or Serpent, which giveth Power unto him, and 
 liveth and worketh in him with all deceivableness of Un~
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lot. Yet shall he not be in a proper 
 Sense (p) Incarnate. In this Manner 
 
 righteousness, shall actuate this Organized Human Body 
 by way of Obsession, rather than of true Impersonation. 
 Why he and some others will not have it to be a strict and 
 real [mpersonation, or an Hypostatical Union of the Two 
 Natures, viz. Diabolical and Human, in One Numerical 
 Person ; is because they do not think that this Deceiver 
 can properly assume to him the tvkole Human Nature, of 
 a Reasonable Soul and Human Flesh subsisting, but that 
 the Diabolical Spirit shall in him Operate after the same 
 manner, as ordinarily in Demoniacs, or Energumens, ia 
 whom the Human Soul (or at least its Superior Faculties) 
 seems to be perfectly bound up, during the whole Terra 
 of the Possession by the Demon ; and as in the Traitor 
 Judas and Simon Magus, Two of his Forerunners and 
 Representatives : And will thereby act upon the Body 
 whereto he shall have united himself, xctr ivipretav, accord- 
 ing to the Energy or In-working of Satan, 2 T/iess. ii. 9,. 
 as we find it was actually so, both in the Traitor and the 
 Sorcerer afore-named : Who were not only, it seems, 
 Acted by a Diabolical Inspiration, to Do what they Did; 
 but were, moreover, made expressly the Organs of the 
 Diabolical Spirit entering into them, and filling them. 
 Hence one of these is called by Christ a Devil ; and the 
 other by the Ancient Christian Writers the Son of the 
 Devil, and the First-born of the Devil. And some have 
 well observed, that as siion as ever it entered into the 
 Heart of Judas to betray his Lord, this was properly a 
 Diabolical Inspiration : but that immediately after his re- 
 ceiving the Sop, this became a Diabolical Possession ; and 
 the Devil from that time forth acted in Judas, as in an 
 Organ or Body prepared for him. So that it seems agree- 
 able to the Notion of the Fathers concerning Antichrist, 
 that the Devil shall not properly Incarnate himself in the 
 Person of Antichrist, as the Word was made Flesh, or as 
 God did properly Incarnate himself in the Person of 
 Christ; but ouXy seemingly, and to nM Appearance : But 
 that he shall Act in him as in a Vessel of Wrath, and in an
 
 xl ST. EPHREM SYR US 
 
 shall this Accursed One come as a Thief 
 to deceive all the World. He shall show 
 himself humble, meek, proclaim him- 
 self an Enemy to Injustice, abhorring 
 Idols, reverencing Piety ; good, chari- 
 table, and he shall be extremely beauti- 
 ful, courageous, affable to all Men, show- 
 ing a most particular Respect to the Na- 
 tion of the (q) Jens ; for they expect his 
 Coming. In the midst of all these things 
 he shall show Signs and Wonders, and 
 dreadful Sights with great Power. He 
 shall craftily endeavour to please all Men, 
 that he may quickly get the Love of many. 
 He shall refuse Gifts, he shall not speak 
 
 Organ every way fitted for his Use, as if he were really 
 and indeed Incarnated in the Human Nature ; and that 
 for this Purpose he shall have a Body prepared from the 
 very Womb for him, being most exquisitely adapted and 
 framed for the Manifestation of all the Evil Properties 
 which are in Fallen Nature, and for all his abominable 
 Designs and lying Wonders, which shall successively be 
 wrought forth through that Body : Wherefore this must 
 not be a Phantastical Body, as some would understand 
 the Fathers, since it is to be properly Organical : But 
 this Organical Human Body, by the habitual Possession 
 and Impregnation of the Spirit of the Dragon is suppo- 
 sed to be made capable for Diabolical Transfiguration, or 
 to appear at least in sundry Forms and Figures, according 
 as he may have occasion to work his Cheating Wonders. 
 
 (q) That the coming of Antichrist must be Ji7'st to 
 the Jews, was generally the Opinion of the Ancients : 
 Or at least in whatever Part of the World his first Ap- 
 pearance might be, they thought these should be the First 
 to join him, and to offer to make him their King. Fid. 
 Par. IV. p. 135.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 with Anger, but shall put on a Show of 
 great Modesty, and by this Appearance 
 of Virtue and Regularity, he shall de- 
 ceive the World, till they make him their 
 King. When therefore many People and 
 Nations shall see these Virtues and Powers 
 in him, They shall all come together with 
 one Consent, and proclaim him their King 
 with great Joy, saying one to another, 
 Can we any where find such a Man as 
 this, so good and so just? and immedi- 
 ately his Dominion shall be established, 
 and in his Wrath he shall smite down three 
 mighty Kings. Then shall this (r) Dra- 
 gon lift up his Heart, and vomit out 
 his Serpentine Poison. He shall dis- 
 turb the World, and put all the Ends 
 of the Earth into Confusion, oppressing 
 their Bodies, and polluting their Souls. 
 Then shall he lay aside his pretended 
 Piety, and show himself severe, cruel, 
 
 (r) Notwithstanding that the Dragon be as distinct 
 from the Beast, who is Antichrist, as one Person can be 
 from another, yet is he here and elsewhere properly 
 enough called the Dragon, or the Serpent, that is, the 
 Devil ; as having his Father's Name written upon him, 
 and subsisting in his Father's Nature, even more properly 
 than in that which he Outwardly carries about him. 
 Whence both the Dragon that has given Power to the 
 Beast, and the Beast that Acts in all Things by the 
 Power of this Old Dragon, may very fitly be called by 
 the same Name, by reason of this most strict Union 
 betwixt them, and Communication of Properties by the 
 Inhabitation of this Serpentine Spirit in the Body of 
 Antichrist.
 
 ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 wrathful, passionate, unmerciful, uncon- 
 stant, terrible, defonned, hateful, abo- 
 minable, haughty, accursed, blasphemous, 
 endeavouring to precipitate all Man- 
 kind into the Depdi of Iniquity. He 
 shall show (s) false Miracles in great 
 Abundance. And when many People 
 are standing by h™, and magnifying 
 him for the great Wonders which they 
 shall behold, he shall proclaim aloud with 
 a mighty Voice,, which shall (t) shake 
 the Place where they are gathered toge- 
 ther, saying, Behold, all people, my poiver 
 and my might. Then shall he (u) seem to 
 
 (s) Consider Mat. xxiv. ^, compared with 2 Thess. ii. 
 9, and Joseph. Antiq. Jud. Lib. XX. c. 6, and De Bello 
 Judaice, Lib. II. c. 23. Lib. VII. c. 30. 
 
 (tj This shaking of the Place where Antichrist is sup- 
 posed, in the presence of a great Multitude met together 
 at the noise of his Wonderful Appearance, to make Pro- 
 clamation of his pretended Universal Kingdom^ is plainly 
 nothing else but the Counterfeit of the Miraculous Descent 
 of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost, when 
 by a rushing mighty Wind the Place wherein they were 
 sitting did seem to move. For it is neither impossible, 
 nor improbable, by the Ministry of Spirits both Good 
 and Evil, as well as by the Concurrence of Natural 
 Causes, for great and extraordinary Winds sometimes to 
 be produced, yet still under the Conduct of the God of 
 Nature. See and consider Gen. viii. 1. 1 King. xix. 11. 
 2 King. ii. 1. Job xxxviii. 1. Psal. cxxxv. 7. Je7: x. 13, 
 xxiii. 19, XXV. 32. Ezek. xxxvii. 9. Jon. i. 4. Nah. i. 3. 
 and Rev. vii. 1, 
 
 (uj The pretence of Kemoving of Mountains, and 
 casting them in the midst of the Sea, and of commanding 
 New Islands at a Words speaking to rise up suddenly out
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xliii 
 
 remove Mountains, and make Islands 
 arise out of the Sea in the Sight of the 
 People, not that he shall really do such 
 mighty Works, but shall impose upon the 
 Spectators by false Appearances. Thus 
 shall he deceive and delude the World, 
 and many shall believe in him, and .glo- 
 rify him as the (w) mighty God. Then 
 
 of the Sea, may in the Person of Antichrist meet with 
 Credit from the Multitude of his Followers, though nothing 
 hereof be really done, by the Contagion of a Spiritual 
 Fascination in all them that shall have fitted themselves to 
 receive his Mark, while he shall by his Devilish Art im- 
 pose upon the Spectators with Phantasms and lying Ap- 
 pearances, called Ti^ara ij/su^a?, by the Apostle, 2 Thess. 
 ii. 9. that he may mock at them. Since for as much as all 
 Power belongs only to God, and God has committed it all 
 to Christ for the Exercise thereof; there remains no 
 Power, which is properly such, for the Devil, or for this 
 his Son, to put forth : But all is barely a Semblance of 
 Power, a false Appearance without any Reality, a Diabo- 
 lical Dream, and an Hellish Cheat. For the Dragon's 
 Power infused into this deceitful Beast, is nothing else 
 at the utmost but the Prevarication and Abuse of the 
 Powers of ISature, which are made subject to Vanity till 
 the Times of Restitution. Wherefore nothing can be 
 more unreasonable and absurd than to be afraid of his 
 Power, which in Effect is none at all ; neither is there 
 a greater Infatuation than to rob God of his Power, or 
 Glory, by allowing but the least Part thereof to the 
 Devil, or to any of his Prime- Ministers. 
 
 (w) But by these and such like strong Delusions the 
 Sealed Number of the Beast, or Antichrist, which is 
 opposed to the Sealed Number of the Lamb, or Christ, 
 shall be even so far infatuated as to worship him not 
 only for a Divine Person, or for one made Partaker of 
 the Divine Nature in the most eminent Degree, but even 
 for the Mighty God, that is, for the Father Almighty.
 
 xliv ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 shall every Soul mourn bitterly, and be 
 afflicted. Then shall all see themselves 
 in continual Affliction Day and Night 
 without a Glimpse of Comfort, not know- 
 ing where to find Bread to satisfy their 
 Hunger. For Merciless Governors shall 
 be set over all Places ; and if a man bring 
 with him the Mark of the Beast in his 
 right Hand or on his Forehead, he shall 
 presently buy such Food as they can get. 
 Then shall the Children faint in the Mo- 
 ther's Bosom, and the Mother shall die 
 upon her Children, and the Father with 
 his Wife and Children shall perish in the 
 Streets, and there shall be none to bury 
 them. From the Multitude of dead Car- 
 cases lying in the Streets shall a grievous 
 Stink arise, that shall be noisome and in- 
 tolerable to the Livino-. In the Morning 
 they shall say with Tears and bitter La- 
 mentation, When will it be Evening, that 
 
 And I know some that have been let deeply into this 
 Mystery of Iniquity, and that have been prepared for 
 many Years to receive a Manifestation of this Nature, as 
 having drawn up a certain System concerning the Incarna- 
 tion of the FATHER, as somewhat much greater yet to 
 be than the Incarnation of the SON was in the Person of 
 Jesus Christ. Innumerable are the Devices and Strata- 
 gems of Satan for the Subverting the Great Mystery of 
 Christianity ; but perhaps among all these, nothing is 
 more cunningly contrived and accommodated for the 
 pleasing both of Jews and Christians, and even of Maho- 
 metans too, than the Scheme hereof which I have seen, 
 and was communicated to me by a Learned flaud that had 
 been himself infected with it for some time.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xlv 
 
 we may take a little Rest? And when it 
 is Evening, They shall speak one to an- 
 other with bitter Tears, When will it be 
 Mornino:^ that we may fly from this 
 dreadful Affliction? And there shall be no 
 Place for them to fly unto for Protection, 
 for all Things shall be in Confusion, both 
 the Sea, and the dry Land. Therefore 
 thus saith the Lord, * Watch, and pray * Mat. xxir. 
 always, that ye may escape this tribulation. ^^^[^ ^'!'* 
 There is a noisome Smell at Sea, and a ^^ ^ ^^'* 
 dreadful Stink by Land, Famines, and 
 Earthquakes, Confusion upon the Earth, 
 Terrors at Sea, and Terrors at Land. 
 Their Silver and their Gold, and their 
 sumptuous Clothes shall not profit in that 
 Day of Wrath. But the Living shall 
 say, Happy are the Dead that are 
 departed this Life before the coming of 
 this great Desolation ! Their Gold and 
 their Silver shall be cast forth into the 
 Streets, and no Man ^hall touch them, 
 but look upon them with Abhorrence, 
 and they shall all seek for Shelter and 
 Protection, but shall not find it. More- 
 over because of the Famine, and Tribu- 
 lation, and Terror, the wild Beast and 
 devouring Insects shall rove about de- 
 vouring all that they can meet with. 
 Within is Fear, and without is Trembling. 
 Night and Day shall the Carcases lie in 
 the Streets ; in the Streets shall be a noisome 
 Smell, within Doors an intolerable Stink! 
 Hunger and Thirst in the Streets, and 
 Hunger and Thirst in the Houses. The
 
 xlvi ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 Voice of Mourning in the Streets, La- 
 mentation in the Streets, Lamentation in 
 the Houses. They shall meet one another 
 in Tears, the Father the Son, and the 
 Son the Father, and the Mother the 
 Daughter. Friends and Brethren shall 
 meet one another in the Streets, and sink 
 down dead with Astonishment at their 
 mutual Miseries. The Beauty of all Flesh 
 is withered ; their once charming Fea- 
 tures are become like those of a dead 
 Man, The Beauty of Women is become 
 hateful and abominable. All flesh shall 
 decay, and the Desire of Men shall perish. 
 Then all that have believed the dreadful 
 Beast, and received his (x) Seal, and his 
 accursed (cc) Mark, shall run to him, and 
 say with Lamentation, Give us Meat and 
 Drink, we are ready to perish with Hun- 
 ger, and drive away from us the destroy- 
 ing Beasts. Then shall he be perplexed, 
 and answer them very roughly, saying, 
 Where shall 1 find Meat and Drink to 
 give you ? The Heaven will not give 
 
 Cx) The visible Seal and Mark of Antichrist, I con- 
 ceive may be thus distinguished ; that the latter is to be a 
 Sign, either on the Right Hand or the Forehead, and 
 may respect both the Orders of Antichristians which have 
 been hinted at; but that the former is to be a Sign properly 
 on the Forehead, and visible to all the World, even as 
 the Horns of Glory were upon the Face of Moses, when 
 he descended from conversing with God and his Holy 
 Angels in the Mount; and that this doth chiefly respect 
 the Antichristians of the Higher Order, who are past all 
 Recovery and have sinned the Sin unto Death.
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD, xWn 
 
 you Rain, and the Earth will not bring 
 forth Harvest or Fruit. When the Peo- 
 ple shall hear this they shall weep and 
 lament, having no Comfort in their Af- 
 flictions. But one Misery shall come 
 upon the Neck of another, because they 
 so readily believed this Tyrannical De- 
 ceiver. For he shall not be able to help 
 himself, how then shall he show Mercy 
 to them? In those Days shall the Tribu- 
 lation be very great from the Oppressions 
 of Antichrist, from the Terror, the 
 Earthquake, the Roaring of the Sea, the 
 Famine, the Drought, and the Bitings of 
 wild Beasts. But all they that have re- 
 ceived the Seal of Antichrist, and wor- 
 shipped him as the Great God, shall have 
 no Portion in the Kingdom of Christ, but 
 shall be cast with the Dragon into Hell. 
 Blessed is he that shall be found Holy 
 and Upright in that Day, having his 
 Heart entirely fixed upon God ! He shall 
 valiantly break through all his Tempta- 
 tions, despising all his Snares and trea- 
 cherous Designs. But before these things 
 come to pass, the Lord shall send (i/) Elias Rev. x\. 3, 
 
 4. 
 
 Mai. iv. 5. 
 
 (t/J This Passage is cited Part IV. § 22, p. 174, as 
 from the Latin Copy of this Father, which was then only 
 extant when the following Treatise was written : And it is 
 here observable, that the Name of Tishbite is for greater 
 Distinction's sake of the very Elias, from any one arising 
 and ministering in his Spirit, added in conformity with the 
 Septuagint Version of Malachy.
 
 ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 the Tishhite and Enoch, out of his abun- 
 dant Mercy, that they may preach Righ- 
 teousness to all Mankind; and boldly 
 publish the true Knowledge of God to 
 all Men, that they may not through 
 Fear believe this Tyrant. They shall pro- 
 claim aloud and say, " O Men, this is the 
 " Deceiver, let no Man believe him, 
 " nor obey this Enemy of God. Let 
 " none of you be afraid, for he shall soon 
 *' be destroyed. Behold the Righteous 
 " Lord is descending from Heaven to 
 " judge all those that give heed to the 
 " Antichristian Signs." But there will 
 be few that will regard or believe the 
 Preaching of these Prophets. But this 
 will our blessed Saviour do to manifest 
 his exceeding great Love towards us, 
 that Mankind even at that Time may 
 not be left without Witnesses of the 
 Truth, and that the Disobedient may be 
 without Excuse in the Day of Judgement. 
 Then as many of the Saints as shall be 
 found at the Coming of this wicked One, 
 shall pour out Rivers of Tears and Sighs 
 innumerable to the Holy God, that they 
 may be delivered from the Power of the 
 Dragon. They shall fly with great Fear 
 and Speed into (z) desert Places, and 
 
 (z) Under the Persecution of the Church by Anti- 
 christ, and the General Apostacy of the Nominal Chris- 
 tians, the Real Christians will be obliged, for the short 
 Season of its Duration, to take their flight into Desert and
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xlix 
 
 hide themselves in Mountains and Caves 
 of the Earth. They shall put Dust and 
 Ashes upon their Heads, praying Wight 
 and Day with great Humiliation. And 
 this shall be the Privilege granted them 
 by the Righteous God, He shall lead them 
 by his Mercy into appointed Places, and 
 they shall be securely hidden in Dens and 
 Caves of the Earth, and shall not see 
 the Signs and Terrors of Antichrist. For 
 to them that have Understanding, his 
 Coming will be easily known, but he 
 shall come unawares upon them whose 
 Hearts are set upon the Affairs of this 
 Life, and their Desires upon the Things 
 of this World ; for he whose Heart has 
 l^een long bound up in Things of the 
 World, though he hear, yet will he not 
 believe, but revile those that would in- 
 struct him. And for this Cause the Saints 
 are mighty in Strength to oppose him, 
 because they have cast off f all Concern t nSa-a* twi- 
 for this temporal and transitory Life. Vsc*""** i^i" 
 Then shall all the Earth and the Sea '^^^'f*^*'"'^'' 
 
 Uninhabited Places ; perhaps into America, which may 
 not unfitly deserve to be called the Great Wilderness. 
 And whether the Wisdom of God may not have some 
 greater Design in View to bring about in that vast Tract of 
 Land, which has been brought under the Subjection of 
 European Princes, than doth hitherto appear by those 
 Temporal Advantages and Disadvantages which have 
 hitherto been made thereby ; may, I think, be not alto- 
 gether unworthy of the serious Consideration of as many 
 as are looking after the Signs of the Times.
 
 1 ST. EPHREM SYRUS 
 
 mourn. The Air shall mourn with the 
 Beasts of the Field, and the Fowls of the 
 Air. The Mountains and Hills shall la- 
 ment, and all the Trees of the Field. 
 The Stars of Heaven shall take up a La- 
 mentation for Mankind, for they have 
 departed from the Righteous God, and 
 believed a Deceiver, and received tlie 
 Mark of the accursed Enemy of God, 
 instead of the quickening Cross of Christ 
 our Saviour. The Earth and the Sea 
 mourneth, for the Singing of Psalms, 
 and the Voice of Prayer is no longer 
 heard among Men. All the Churches of 
 Christ lament with bitter Lamentations, 
 * Dan. vi. because of the Cessation of the * Daily 
 25. Sacrifice and Oblation. When therefore 
 
 ^^^'i^u' ^^^ shall have exercised his Tyranny Three 
 PmpitiaV ^^^^^ ^^^ ^ Half, and when the Desola- 
 ry Oblation tions of the whole Earth shall be accom- 
 in the Holy plished, then as the Lord himself has 
 Eucharist, gaifj^ The Holy, Pure, Terrible, and Glo- 
 ^c.Prmted^^ Ood shall descend like a Flash of 
 
 tor J. max- , . , . /» n • i • 
 
 phew, 1710. Lightnmg out oi Heaven, with mexpres- 
 sible Majesty, with Legions of Angels 
 and Arch-angels, all in bright Flames of 
 pire, and a roaring Stream of Fire running 
 before him. Cherubims with their Eyes 
 cast down, and Seraphims flying and hi- 
 ding their Faces and Feet with their fiery 
 Wings, crying out, in a dreadful Manner, 
 Awake ye that sleep, behold the Bridegroom 
 Cometh. The Graves shall open, and in 
 the Twinkling of an Eye shall all the Na- 
 tions of the Earth arise, and look upon the
 
 OF THE END OF THE WORLD. li 
 
 resplendent Beauty of the Bridegroom. 
 The innumerable Armies of Angels and 
 Arch-angels shall triumph with great Joy, 
 and the Just and the Righteous that have 
 not received the Mark of the Beast shall 
 rejoice. Then shall the Tyrant and all 
 the Unrighteous and Ungodly that have 
 received his Mark be led bound to the 
 Tribunal of the Righteous Judge, Who 
 shall pronounce their Sentence of Eter- 
 nal Condemnation to unquenchable Fire : 
 Whilst all they that have not received 
 the Mark of Antichrist, and all that have 
 been hidden in secret Places, shall rejoice 
 with the Bridegroom in the Eternal and 
 Heavenly Rest with all the Saints for ever 
 and ever. Amen. 
 
 N.B. I have not in this Translation strictly 
 followed the Letter of the Text., hut have through- 
 out taken such Liberties as 1 thought most pro- 
 per to accommodate it to the English Idiom, and 
 make it more serviceable to the common Reader. 
 For the Stile of this Author being short and 
 sententious, I have sometimes cast two or three 
 Sentences of the same Import into one, by Way 
 of Explication; sometimes have illustrated a 
 Difficulty by Way of Paraphrase ; and where 
 the literal Sense is something unintelligible by 
 antique Words and Phrases, I have endeavoured 
 to give it such a Turn as might be most agreeable 
 to our common Expressions and Notions of 
 Things.
 
 THE 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Dan. 12. 1 . And there shall he a time of Trouble, 
 such as never was smce there ivas a Nation, 
 even to that same time. 
 
 Or, as it is expressed by 
 
 St. Matth. 24. 2 1 . For then shall he great Tribu- 
 lation, such as was not since the beginning of 
 the World to this time, no nor ever shall be. 
 
 Or, by 
 
 St. Mark 13. 19. For in those Days shall he Af- 
 fliction, such as ivas not from the beginnitig of 
 the Creation, which God created, u7ito this time, 
 neither shall be. 
 
 THIS PROPHECY thus differently ex- 
 pressed, contains a Solemn Denuncia- 
 tion of the dreadful Judgments that shall come 
 upon the World in the last Times, which will 
 display themselves in two sorts of Evils. 
 
 1. Natural. 
 
 2. Supernatural. 
 
 1. By the Natural Evils I understand 
 principally, The Sword, the Pestilence, and 
 the Famine.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 2. By the Supernatural, The Afflictions 
 which the Church of God, and the whole 
 World, shall undergo in the Reign of Anti- 
 christ, who is the Consummation of the 
 Curse. 
 
 The Reasons why I imagine these Na- 
 tural Evils to be the Sword, Pestilence, and 
 Famine, are these: 
 
 1. Because these (with that of the noi- 
 som Beasts) are called God's Sore Judgments ; 
 or, as it is in the Original, his (emphati- 
 cally) Evil Judgments^ Ezek. 14. 21 ; and 
 though, indeed, in this and one or two other 
 Places, we find the noisom Beasts, and 
 sometimes the Earthquakes joined with them ; 
 yet, generally speaking, these Three are in 
 most of the Prophets put together, as the Sum 
 or Completion of all the Natural Evils that 
 can befall a People. 
 
 2. Because they correspond to, and are 
 the Natural Fruits and Productions of the 
 Three great Divisions of Sin, mentioned by 
 St. John, 1 Ep. 2. 16. 1. The Lust of the Flesh; 
 2. The Lust of the Eye; 3. And the Pride of 
 Life; which he calls all that is in the World ; 
 meaning, that all other Instances of Sin, may 
 (generally speaking) be reduced to these 
 Three Heads. 
 
 These shall ravage up and down in the 
 World, in different Places and Degrees, ac- 
 cordingly as Persons, Places, or Nations, 
 may be more or less ripe for Vengeance; 
 and are not only intended as a Punishment 
 for the Sufferers, but as Warnings for those 
 that shall escape them, that greater Evils 
 are at hand ; For so saith our Blessed Lord,
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 Matth. 24. 7, 8; Mark 13.9. Nation shall rise 
 against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom : 
 And there shall be Families, and Pestilences, and 
 Earthquakes in divers Places ; and immediate- 
 ly subjoins, All these are the beginnings of Sor- 
 rows. Where the Original Word,* which * '^^"'' 
 we translate Sorrows, signifies particularly 
 the Pains of a travailing Woman, and seems 
 to be most emphatically used in this place, 
 to represent to us, that these shall be, as it 
 were, the Throes and Pangs of the King- 
 dom of Darkness, or Hellish Principle, la- 
 bouring to bring forth Antichrist, who is 
 to be the Head and Completion of the 
 Apostacy, the Top-Fruit of the Mystery of 
 Iniquity, in whom shall dwell the Fullness 
 of Diabolical Deceit and Wickedness, in 
 opposition to our Lord Jesus Christ, in 
 ■whom dwelt the Fullness of Grace and 
 Truth; yea, of the Godhead bodily. 
 
 Before I proceed to a distinct Conside- Theprece- 
 ration of the several Parts, I shall premise ^^"^ .^^""" 
 one Thing; That seeing there are in ^c^ip- cZjirmed. 
 ture many terrible Denunciations of great 
 Judgments, which have not yet been fulfilled, 
 at least in their utmost Extent and Meaning ; 
 it is natural to imagine, that they do ulti- 
 mately respect those latter Times, according 
 to what our Blessed Lord tells us of them, 
 Luke 21. 22. That these are the Days of 
 Vengeance, that all Things that are written 
 might be fulfilled: i. e. These are the Last 
 and Great Days of Vengeance, in which shall 
 be ultimately fulfilled all those heavy Denun- 
 ciations of Judgment, which God, by the 
 Mouth of his Holy Prophets, ever since the 
 
 b2
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 World began, has threatened to the Enemies 
 of his Church, which is now beginning to lift 
 up her Head, and triumph over the Opposi- 
 tions of all her Enemies. The times of her 
 refreshing are about to commence ; she shall 
 pass securely through this Deluge of Afflic- 
 tion, and shall come forth gloriously. This 
 hath been represented to us, as it were, in 
 miniature, by divers lesser Manifestations of 
 the Divine Justice and Mercy : Thus the 
 Apostle St. Peler tells us, 2 Ep. Chap. 2. 
 That the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 
 was, as it were, a little Sketch and Represen- 
 tation of this last dreadful Scene: The De- 
 struction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem 
 is likewise described in such a Manner, and 
 with such Characters, as plainly shows it to 
 be typical of that more dreadful Destruction, 
 that shall come upon the Apostate World in 
 the latter Days : Thus the Crimes and 
 Punishments charged upon Babylon, Tyre, 
 Edom, &c. in the prophetical Books, though 
 they were, in some measure, verified according 
 to the Letter in the Type ; yet it is clear to 
 any that are acquainted with History, that 
 they were very far from being entirely ful- 
 filled, but are rather Types and Figures of 
 the Antichristian World, as standing in some 
 eminent Property or Character, whence we 
 see they are transcribed by the Divine Author 
 of the Revelations, Ch. 17. 18. and applied 
 to the Mystical Babylon, or Apostate Chris- 
 * See Dr. tendom. So, lastly, to go yet further, the* 
 c*^— / V Ancient Prophecy of Enoch did, no doubt, 
 l^'p 344 '" '^^ "^^^^ obvious and immediate Design,
 
 INTR OD UCTION. 
 
 point at the State and Inhabitants of the old 
 World, before the Fk)od in ^\'hich he hved, 
 warning them of the sad Deij;eneraey of Man- 
 kind, and the terrible Punishments that would 
 ensue upon it: Yet the Aposthi St. Jude, 
 V. 14. expressly says, that Enoch prophecyed 
 of the Antichristian Members of the Church 
 which were m his Days, but more parti- 
 cularly of those that were to come in the 
 last Periods of the Church, v. 17. 18. All 
 which Instances do help to confirm this 
 Hypothesis, that all those great and signal 
 Punishments, denounced by the Holy Pro- 
 phets against a People or Nation ; those 
 particularly which seem to run in General 
 and Universal Terms, did ultimately and 
 finally refer to this last terrible Catastrophe, 
 when Vengeance shall be poured out to 
 the full, corresponding to the full Measure 
 of Iniquity : For the Judgments never take 
 place, till the Sins of a Nation are filled 
 up. So God did not bring the Flood upon 
 the old World, till the Earth was Jilled with 
 Violence, as he himself complains, Gen. 6. 
 So also God tells Abraham, Gen. 15. Id that 
 he could not yet possess the Land, which 
 he had promised to him and his Seed, he- 
 cause their Sins were 7iot yet full. So then in 
 the latter Days, when the Measure of the 
 Iniquities of Mankind shall be filled up, 
 their Judgments and Punishments shall be 
 so likewise : This Last and Great Desola- 
 tion being the Forerunner and Introduction 
 to the blessed Millennial Kingdom of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, was what the Prophets
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and Holy Men of old had continually in 
 their Eye; it was, as it were, the Burden 
 of their Prophecies ; and whensoever they 
 were denouncing the Judgments of God 
 against a Nation or People, they (or ra- 
 ther that Holy Spirit that guided them) did 
 ever and anon, for wise Ends and Reasons of 
 Providence, drop something too great and 
 illustrious to be applied to any Thing less 
 than this last Vengeance, which shall be, as 
 it were, a Recapitulation of all the Evils 
 and Miseries that were ever sent upon the 
 Earth. For, as in a Drama or Play, all 
 the preceding Acts and Scenes are only in 
 order to introduce the last, and are, as it 
 were, summed up in it; so that in this Sense 
 the latter End (being First and Principal 
 in the Intention of the Agent) is more Glorious 
 than the beginning, as the wise Preacher 
 tells us, EccL 7. 8. the Beauties and Graces 
 of the whole Transaction appearing more 
 gloriously in the Catastrophe: So also the 
 whole Scriptures, as well Historical as Pro- 
 phetical, (which are nothing else but a vision- 
 ary Representation of all the great Events 
 and Transactions relating to the Church of 
 Christ, since the first Commencement of his 
 mediatorial Kingdom, till the last Delivery of 
 it up to God the Father,) have the End and 
 Design of the whole Economy, which is the 
 conquering of Satan, and the introducing the 
 Glorious Millennial Kingdom continually in 
 their Eye : This being the chief Action or 
 End of the whole Dispensation, to which all 
 the other Actions are subservient, serving
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 either to represent the Thing to us in little, 
 or to give us Hints to be improved by Medi- 
 tation to the Glory of God, in clearing up 
 the Grand Mystery. And having thus cleared 
 the Way, 1 shall proceed to consider each of 
 these afore-mentioned Evils in their ])roper 
 Place distinctly.
 
 PART I. 
 
 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 Isa. 34. 2. The Indignation of the Lord is upon 
 all Nations, and his Fury upon all their Ar- 
 mies: He hath utterly destroyed them, he hath 
 delivered them to the Slaughter. 
 
 1. The § l.'T^HE First Evil to be considered, is, 
 Sword, the JL the Sword or War, which our Bles- 
 
 The'^Lmtof When ye shall hear of Wars and Commotions , 
 the Eye. be not terrified, for these things must first come 
 to pass. And so we find it generally reckon- 
 ed by the Prophets as the beginning of Ven- 
 geance. This being (if I may so express 
 it) a more circumferential Evil, may be an 
 Alarm to the rest of the World, that other 
 and greater Evils are following. For though 
 indeed War be a very great Mischief to a 
 Nation, yet it cannot properly be called an 
 universal One in the Sense here meant, as 
 not affecting every particular Member of the 
 offending guilty Nation, unless in their Fears 
 and Apprehensions, or at most in their 
 Estates, not their Persons, which are the 
 only, or properly, the capable Subjects of 
 Punishment or Amendment. Wars then are 
 as the gathering of the Clouds, which are the 
 forerunning Signs of an approaching Storm,
 
 OF THE SWORD. 9 
 
 and will be to the wise-hearted a warning to 
 shift for themselves, and prepare them a 
 Shelter from the subsequent Showers of 
 Wrath. These are the proper Punishment of 
 that great Branch of Sin, The Lust of the 
 Eye, to which they owe their Original, and 
 from whence they proceed as their proper and 
 immediate Cause or Principle. For from 
 whence come Wars and Fightings amongst 
 you? (saith St. James, c. 4. v. 1, 2, 3.) come 
 they not hence, even of your Lusts, that war in 
 your Members ? Ye lust, and have not : Ye kill 
 and desire to have, and caiinot obtain : Ye fight 
 and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not : Ye 
 ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that 
 ye may consume it upon your Lusts. This is the 
 predominant Vice of those, who having given 
 themselves over to a boundless Ambition, 
 make it their whole Concern and Business to 
 grasp and seize all the Riches, Estates, Pre- 
 ferments, and Kingdoms, that either their 
 Power or Interest can bring within their 
 reach ; who (as the Prophet Mabakkuk, 2. 5. 
 expresses it) enlarge their Desire as Hell, and 
 are as Death, and cannot be satisfied; but 
 gather unto them all People, and heap unto them 
 all Nations. This is the Sin to which Satan 
 tempted our Blessed Saviour, when he showed 
 him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the 
 Glory of them, all which he promised to be- 
 stow upon him, if he would fall down and 
 worship him, 3Iatthew 4. 8, 9. Whosoever 
 are in this covetous and wrathful Spirit, are 
 properly the Subjects and Children of Wrath ; 
 and according as they are Persons of more or 
 less Authority in the Earth, may more or less
 
 10 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 spread and dilate this Fire of Contention; 
 which, when it comes to its heighth, produces 
 always bloody Wars and Desolations. Un- 
 der this Signature or Form, Babylon seemed 
 to stand among the Ancient Prophets, as 
 * J«-.49.50. may be seen at large;* as did also, in a 
 Jsa. 13. 14. legs degree, Assyria and the Philistines, Egypt 
 and Syria. These, like so many Fires break- 
 ing out in different Quarters of a City, did 
 ever now and then set the World in a Blaze, 
 and put all the neighbouring Nations into 
 Confusion; whose End was this, that when 
 they had sufficiently executed the wise Coun- 
 sels of God (who often turas the Fierceness 
 of Men to his own Praise and Glory) they 
 quickly fell by the same Fate; so saith the 
 Lord to the King of Assyria by the Prophet, 
 Isaiah 10. 12. Wheri the Lord shall have 
 pejformed his whole Work uj}o?i Mount Zion 
 and Jerusalem^ I will punish the Fruit of the 
 stout Heart of the King of Assyria, and the 
 Glory of his high Looks. And so in this 
 Sense also, they that drew the Sword perished 
 by the Sword, even as the Prophet Hahakkuk 
 assures us in the afore-cited Chapter, v. 7. 8. 
 That there shall arise up suddeiily those that 
 shall bite them, and awake that shall vex them, 
 and they shall be for Booties unto them ; and, 
 because they have spoiled many Nations, all the 
 Remnafit of the People shall spoil them. 
 2. That § 2. That this Judgment of the Sword 
 ihisJudg- sliall be more General and Universal in the 
 ment shall j^^j^^, j) -^^ plainly foretold by the An- 
 
 * cient Prophets, as also by our Lord and 
 his Apostles; by our Lord particularly in 
 the above-mentioned place of St. Matthew
 
 OF THE SWORD. 11 
 
 and St. Luke; and by the Holy Apostles, 
 when they Prophecy of the perilous Times 
 that shall come in the latter Days ; where 
 they tell us, that Men shall abound in all 
 those evil Qualities, which, as we before 
 observed, are the Seeds and Fuel of all the 
 Strife, War, and Bloodshed, that so often 
 disturb the Peace of Mankind, and put the 
 World in Confusion. Thus St. Paul to 
 Timothy, 2 Ep. 3. 3, 4. tells us, that in the 
 last Days, Men shall be lovers of themselves, 
 covetous, proud, disobedient, truce-breakers, false 
 accusers; or (as the Margin reads it) make- 
 bates, fierce, traiterous, headstrong, and high- 
 minded. Such are the Scoffers walking after 
 their own Lusts, whom St. Peter, 2 Ep. 3. 
 prophecies of; and the Mockers, Murmurers, 
 and Complainers, of St. Jude 16. 18. By 
 which I understand, that these Vices were to 
 be more common and prevailing in the Times 
 here prophecyed of, than usual ; otherwise 
 it were no great wonder if it were only 
 meant that there should be some such Per- 
 sons in the World ; for that hath been in 
 every Age and Period of it. And when- 
 soever Mankind shall be thus corrupted ; 
 when Men shall be discontented with their 
 Conditions, and covet what does not be- 
 long to them ; when Men shall despise and 
 disobey their Superiors, violate their Oaths 
 and Promises, delight in railing Accusa- 
 tions, and slanderous Stories, be rebellious, 
 stubborn, and headstrong, what can be the 
 Consequence, but War, Contention, Vio- 
 lence, and Desolation ? The Circumstances
 
 12 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 of which must differ, according to the Quahty 
 and Authority of the first Movers, and the 
 Grounds and Principles upon which they 
 act. Thus some Quarrels shall be only Do- 
 mestic or economical, confined to one or 
 more Families, dividing the Members or 
 Relatives of the same House; as when the 
 Father is divided against the Son, and the 
 Son against the Father; the 31other against 
 the Daughter, and the Daughter against the 
 Mother ; the Mother-in-laiv against the Daugh- 
 ter-in-law, and the Daughter-in-law against 
 the Mother-in-law, Matthew 10. 34. Luke 12. 
 51. Others shall be Political, betwixt Mem- 
 bers of the same Society or Body Politic, or 
 betwixt the Members and the Head : Such 
 are the bold Insults of Traitors and Rebels. 
 The Last is National, when Kingdom shall 
 7'ise up against Kingdotn, and Nation against 
 Nation, which in this place we particularly 
 regard. 
 3. That it ^ 3. That this latter Kind shall be Uni- 
 shallbe Uni- ^^,,^^1 -j^ ^j^^ j^^^^g^. jy - j jjjjnk abun- 
 
 dantly foretold by the Prophets, who do m 
 many places tell us of Universal Desola- 
 tions by the Sword, which shall come up- 
 on all the Earth ; which, though some Inter- 
 preters do understand only of the Land of 
 Judea, and so confine it to that Destruction 
 which was brought upon the Land by the 
 Chaldeans, Babylon, or the Romans, rendering 
 b'2 * the Words *not all the Earth, but all the 
 
 ^f'^J^^• Land, or the whole Land : Yet I believe 
 it is possible to produce some Prophecies, 
 that are utterly incapable of such a Limi-
 
 OF THE SWORD. 13 
 
 tation, and must by consequence be taken 
 in a greater Latitude ; in many of which, 
 I doubt not, but the Holy Prophets did 
 principally and chiefly intend a general 
 and universal War in the Last Days, which 
 should engage all Nations, and of which 
 all the lesser Desolations brought upon any 
 People, but especially Judea, by the Sword 
 of an Enemy, were Types and Prefigura- 
 tions. The first of this Kind that I shall 
 mention, shall be the 25th Chapter of Jere- 
 miah, V. 15. where God commands the Prophet 
 to take the Wine- cup of his Fury, and cause all 
 the Nations (whom he afterwards enume- 
 rates) to drink of it. And he is commanded 
 to begin at Jerusalem and the Cities of Judah, 
 to make them a Desolation, an Astonishment, 
 an Hissing aiid a Curse, v. 18. Thence he is 
 ordered to proceed to Egypt, v. 19. To all 
 the mingled People (*that is, the Arabians) to * From 
 all the Kings of the Land of Uz, (probably con- ^*^^ 
 jectured to be that Tract of Land that lay miscuit. 
 South of Damascus, comprehending Palestine, 
 the lower Parts of Ccelesyria, and the ad- 
 joining Borders of Arabia Petrcea, and De- 
 serta) and all the Kings of the Philistines, 
 (supposed to inhabit the Western Parts of the 
 Land of Canaan, bordering upon the Medi- 
 terranean), V. 20. Then to Edom, Moab, and 
 Ammon, (lying East of Judea) v. 21. The 
 Kings of Tyre and Sidon, (lying North, or t ^o the 
 rather North- West of Jerusalem) and the}^!^^l 
 Kings of the Isles that arcf beyond (or besides) ^" • 
 the Sea; that is, the Great Sea or Mediter- ^•'- 
 ranean. If it be the former, it must be ^j^^" ®^*" 
 understood of the Western or European j^xxwiay / 
 
 rendered.
 
 TTOK at;Ta. 
 
 14 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 Continent and Islands ; if the latter, it 
 may not improbably be meant of the lesser 
 Asia or JEgean Isles, which may be proper- 
 ly said to lie beside, or on one side of the 
 Sea, V. 22. Thence to Dedan, Tema, and 
 Suz^ and all that are in the utmost Corners; 
 ^1^1^|5 * or, as the Words * may be rendered, and as 
 HKD the LXX understood it,t that have the Cor- 
 t war wij- ners of their Head polled or shaven; who 
 gixExapxii'oi' are supposed to be the Arabians, i. e. The 
 xaTa-axpoVw- Jshmaelites, Madianites, and Amalekites, who 
 inhabited great part of Arabia, especial- 
 ly Deserta and Petrcsa. Which is expressed 
 again in the next Verse, by all the Kings of 
 Arabia, and all the Kings of the mingled 
 People that dwell in the Desert, v. 23, 24. 
 Then all the Kings of Zimri, or the Zamareni, 
 a base ignoble People mentioned by Pliny; 
 and which may be mentioned to show us, that 
 there is no Nation or People, however lit- 
 tle, mean, or contemptible, but shall be of 
 some Account at that time, and shall ac- 
 cordingly bear their Part in that last dread- 
 ful Scene. Then the Kings of Elam, i. e. 
 Persia, and the Kings of the Medes, v. 25. 
 Thus far all seems pretty agreeable to the 
 fore-mentioned Hypothesis, That this Judg- 
 ment doth only intend the Destruction 
 brought upon these Countries by the King 
 of Babylon, who conquered all or most of 
 them. But let us look further to the two 
 next Verses, which are these ; And all the 
 Kings of the North far and near, and all the 
 Kingdoms of the World, which are upon the 
 Pace of the Earth ; and the King of Sheshach 
 shall dri.ik after them. Therefore thou shalt say
 
 OF THE SWORD. 15 
 
 unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 
 Drink ye a7id be drunken, and spue and fall, 
 and rise no more, because of the Sword which I 
 send amo7ig you, v. 26, 27. Which two Verses, 
 (with the following) do, I think, plainly ex- 
 press that this War or Judgment of the Sword 
 shall be Universal, even upon all the King- 
 doms of the World, that are upon the Face of 
 the Earth. 
 
 This Interpretation may be abundantly 
 confirmed, by comparing this with many 
 other Places of Holy Scriptures, of which 
 I shall take notice only of two or three 
 that are most remarkable. The first shall 
 be the 24th Chapter of Isaiah, where the Holy 
 Prophet does in lofty Expressions, foretel 
 the utter Desolation of the whole Earth. 
 Sehold (saith he) v. 1. the Lord maketh the 
 Earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth 
 it upside down, and scattereth abroad all the 
 Inhabitants thereof, &c. Now, that some of 
 the Ancients understood this Chapter in the 
 Sense here intended, will appear by com- 
 paring the 13th Verse of this Chapter, and 
 V. 6, of the 17th, with the 16th of the Se- 
 cond Book of Esdras, for that Scarcity of 
 Men which Isaiah speaks of as the conse- 
 quence of this great Desolation ; so that they 
 shall appear like the two or three Olives that 
 are left after the shaking of an Olive-tree, or the 
 gleaning Grapes when the Vintage is done : 
 the same is mentioned by Esdras, as not con- 
 fined or limited to any one People or Nation, 
 but in the most general and universal Sense, as 
 denounced against the v*^hole World, which 
 does most plainly appear by many Passages
 
 16 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 of that Chapter, notwithstanding it begins 
 with a woe to Babylon, and Asia, Egypt and 
 Syria. And if it be but allowed that this 
 Book is Ancient, though written by a Chris- 
 tian, it shows however, that the Chris- 
 tians of that Age understood it in this 
 Sense. 
 
 A Second Argument shall be drawn from 
 the 30th Verse of tlJs 25th Chapter of Jere- 
 miah, compared with the 3d Chapter of the 
 Prophet Joel, and the 14th Chapter of the 
 Revelations. Jeremiah says. The Lord shall 
 roar from on high, and utter his Voice from his 
 Holy Habitation ; he shall give a shout as them 
 that tread the Grapes, against all the Inhabi- 
 tants of the Earth. So the English Bible 
 reads it : But the Original seems more expres- 
 n^y* * sive, saying * it shall be heard, or answered 
 by, or it shall sound to all the Ends of the 
 Earth. The Prophet Joel speaks of the roar- 
 ing, V. 16. and v. 13. he bids them put in 
 the Sickle, for the Harvest is ripe, the Press 
 is full, the Fats overflow, their Wickedness is 
 t 'jTiv^.ii- great; or, as the LXX f understood it, their 
 ^"Z'"*' I* ''«- Iniquities are full. This overflowing of the 
 HOC avrcoK Pa^g^ ^ud fulucss of the Press, answers 
 to tlie treading of the Grapes afore-men- 
 tioned. In the Apocalypse, Chapter 14. v. 
 1 8. l^ie Angel that had the sharp Sickle, was 
 commanded to thrust it in, and gather the Clus- 
 ters of the Vine of the Earth, and cast it into 
 the Wine-press of the Wrath of God; a7id, 
 V. 20. the Wine-press ivas trodden, &c. Now 
 that these three Prophecies are of the same 
 Design and Extent, will, I presume, be dis- 
 puted by none that are acquainted with
 
 OF THE SWORD. 17 
 
 the Idea and Genius of Proplietical Scrip- 
 ture. The Vine then that is mentioned to 
 be trodden, is the wicked and antichristian 
 Church, which is the earthly Vine, whose 
 Clusters and Grapes are bitter, like the Vine 
 of Sodom and Gomorrah, Deuteronomy 32. 
 32, 33. as the true Church, and Holy Mem- 
 bers of it, are called the Vine of the Lord 
 and of Christ, Isaiah 5. Psalm 80. John 15. 
 And as the reaping of the Harvest signifies 
 the gathering of the Saints at the first Re- 
 surrection, as our Lord tells us, Matthew 13. 
 24. so the gathering of the Vintage, the 
 gathering together of the Wicked to Destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 § 4. Against the Universality of this Judg- . 4. AnOh- 
 ment, as proved from the former place of-^^^J.^^ '''*■ 
 Jeremy, there are two main Objections. 
 
 I. The First is. That in the beginning 
 of the Chapter, the Holy Ghost has, as it 
 were, given us a Key for the understanding 
 of the whole, in a more narrow and limit- 
 ed sense; telling us, v. 1. That the Word 
 (or Prophecy following) was concerning the 
 Land of Judah. In answer to which, I 
 think it is plain that this Chapter consists 
 of two Parts, from the Beginning to v. 15. 
 and thence to the End, of a quite distinct 
 Argument and Design. The former Part 
 respecting the Jews, the Inhabitants of Ju- 
 dah, and threatening them with the long- 
 Seventy Years Captivity to be brought up- 
 on them by the King of Babylon, whom he 
 says, V. 12. that he will punish with the 
 Chaldeans with utter Desolation, after the 
 Accomplishment of the Captivity. From
 
 18 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 hence the Prophet takes a very natural 
 Hint, and raises his Thoughts to the Con- 
 templation of the great Afflictions or Judg- 
 ments that were to come upon the whole 
 World in the latter Days, of which that of 
 the Jews was a little Sketch or Representa- 
 tion; that Nation in the prophetical Books 
 often standing for the whole World. Thus 
 in like manner the Holy Prophet David, 
 whose Psalms are almost nothing else but a 
 continued Description of the Glories and 
 Beauties of the Messiah's Kingdom, begins 
 very often with the Thoughts of his Suc- 
 * See his cessor Solomoji, intendmg (* says the Learned 
 riniversal Bishop of Meaux) to celebrate the Glory of 
 2/3^' ^*** aS'oti, when on a sudden he is transported 
 beyond himself, and carried far aivay, contem- 
 plating him ivho was greater than Solomon both 
 in Glory and Wisdom. It was this inspired 
 him with that inimitable Eloquence, to sing 
 the triumphant Praises of our dear Redeemer, 
 and the Glory of that Virgin Church which 
 he should constitute upon the Earth at his 
 Second Coming ; to which (as I have before 
 showed) it chiefly had respect, and which 
 was most beautifully shadowed out, and re- 
 presented to us, by the Theocratical Economy 
 of the Jewish Church under that Illustrious 
 Monarch. 
 A 2d Ob- II. The Second Objection is, That this 
 Jection an- is an hyperbolical lofty way of Speaking, 
 swered. j^^ch in use amongst the Oriental Writers, 
 who did often express particular Things in 
 very copious extensive Terms, and with an 
 Air of Universality. In answer to this, I 
 must own I am very cautious of admitting
 
 OF THE SWORD. 19 
 
 Hyperboles in Scripture, where the literal 
 Sense is not impossible in Nature. I con- 
 sider, that as God's Thoughts are 7iot as our 
 Thoughts, so neither are his ways of Expres- 
 sion like our ways. And though it must be 
 acknowledged, that as God made use of 
 weak Instruments to declare his Will to 
 Mankind, so He left a great deal to them 
 as to the manner of expressing or delivery 
 of it ; from whence proceeds that great 
 Variety of Style that appears amongst the 
 Holy Writers. Yet I make no question, 
 but that the Holy Spirit, under whose Go- 
 vernment and Direction they were, did 
 take care so to direct them, that the Prophe- 
 cy, Reproof, Exhortation, or whatever else 
 was the Subject of their Discourse, might 
 not be more obscured than the Nature and 
 Design of the Thing did require ; which 
 it must necessarily be, if this latitude of 
 Expression be allowed. It must also be ac- 
 knowledged, that there are many Expres- 
 sions purely Hyperbolical, of which many 
 Instances might be produced ; yet they 
 may easily be distinguished, by being un- 
 capable of a literal Meaning, which can 
 never be said of the Case before us ; for- 
 asmuch as the Holy Spirit has, in the afore- 
 cited 25th Chapter of Jeremiah, been very 
 exact in a particular Enumeration of Na- 
 tions and People, even of all the Nations 
 that are upon the Face of the Earth. So 
 then, in answer to those who fancy that 
 the sublime Expressions of the Prophetical 
 Writers, was entirely owing to the warmth 
 of their Fancy and Imagination, or to some 
 
 c 2
 
 •20 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 peculiar Advantage of their Language; I 
 must own, I cannot but think that the An- 
 cient Learning, in the Schools of the Pro- 
 phets, was very different from ours ; and 
 that the Literati among them had their No- 
 tions and Ideas of Things very different 
 from ours. I cannot think that their 
 Learning consisted so much in barren Theo- 
 ries, logical INiceties, and barren Specula- 
 tions ; which are so far from being Truth 
 itself, that they are very often at the 
 most remote distance from it. I cannot 
 think that the Modern Learning of the 
 Schools, was even that celebrated Egyptian 
 Learning, which was so much sought after, 
 and admired by the better and wiser part 
 of Mankind ; in the search of which Py- 
 thagoras spent so many Years ; and at last 
 travelled into Egypt, and submitted to the 
 pamful Rite of Circumcision, rather than 
 be disappointed in his Expectations ; and 
 the result of this Labour and Travel was, 
 that he attained to a very great Degree of 
 Natural and Divine Knowledge. This was 
 that Knowledge in which Moses was said 
 to be learned, whilst he was educated in 
 PharaoJis Court, and which made him 
 Mighty both in Word and Deed, Acts 7. 22. 
 * Isq; li-* I rather think that the Knowledge of the 
 cH Coeli re- Holy Prophets, or Seers, consisted in a 
 ^^^"^j^^™°' more deep and intimate Knowledge of God 
 Deosadiit, ^^^ Nature, in surh Degrees as they were 
 etquae Natu- capable of receiving them, or God was 
 
 ra negavit pleased to communicate them : They in 
 Vis.bus hu- ji^g gi jj^ ^f Q^j,^ g .j..^ jj^^^ ^^^ 
 
 mams, oculis r\ ^\ c ^\ t-, • • i tt? i ■ ^ 
 
 ea pectoris l^epths ot the Spiritual World; they saw 
 
 hausit. Ovid.
 
 OF THE SWORD. 21 
 
 into the Great End, Purpose, and Design 
 of the Eternal Love, which as a chie gui- 
 ded them through all those inscrutable la- 
 byrinths of Providence, in which so many 
 weak and ignorant Searchers have been 
 baffled and lost. They saw that wonderful 
 Harmony, that surprising Correspondence, 
 that is betwixt all the Dispensations and 
 Revelations of God ; and how the lesser, 
 and seemingly • contemptible Occurrences 
 in the Church, throughout all Ages, did 
 (like the lesser Wheels in EzekieVs Cha- 
 riot, Chapter 1.) move in a perfect Union 
 and Concurrence with the greater, accord- 
 ing to the Will and Direction of the Great 
 Mover and Director; which Consideration 
 may be also not a little confirmed by Tes- 
 timonies of many eminent Heathen Wri- 
 ters, who had a traditional Knowledge of 
 many great and surprising Truths and Doc- 
 trines of this Nature : See particularly the 
 Learned Mr. DodweUs Dissertation of the 
 TahulcB Cceli of the Ancients.* Instead * Dr. 
 then of rejecting the plain and literal Grabe's 
 Meaning of the Holy Writers, under pre- V'^^^^^- 
 tence of their being Figurative and Hy- " - -P- 
 perbolical, we should rather endeavour to 
 search into the Depths which they designed, 
 and so not cramp the spirit of Prophecy, by 
 measuring with our own Line, which is indeed 
 much too short : No Man knoiueth the Things 
 of a Man, hut the Spirit of a Man that is in 
 him, &c. 
 
 § 5. There shall be then Wars and 5. TheEnd 
 Fightings; and those General and Univer-<'^^^*^S'«<i/' 
 sal. over all the Kingdoms and Nations'/,''?'^''*'''
 
 22 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 that are upon the Face of the Earth, which 
 shall begin the Accomplishment of those 
 many Prophecies, which foretel the utter 
 Destruction of the Wicked, the rooting out 
 of their Seed, and the planting in of the 
 Meek and the Righteous in their stead. 
 This seems to be the great Meaning of the 
 37th Psalm; where the Prophet persuades 
 the Church of God, in some eminently pe- 
 rilous time, when the Wicked prosper and 
 are mighty, and plot the Destruction of 
 the Righteous, to he patient and wait on the 
 Lord ; and not to fret at their Prosperity, nor 
 to he afraid of their Devices, v. 7, adding, that 
 in a little time. The Wicked shall tiot be, and 
 the Evil-doers shall be cut off; but that tlie 
 Meek, and they that wait upon the Lord, shall 
 inherit the Earth, and shall he refreshed in the 
 multitude of Peace, v. 9, 10, 11. Which Psalm, 
 however some have confined it to some par- 
 ticular Affliction of the Prophet David, making- 
 it to be rather an Act of Hope and Confi- 
 dence, than a Prophecy ; yet our Blessed 
 Lord himself seems to have determined it 
 against them, having quoted, verse 11. as 
 * Matth. a Prophecy yet to be accomplished * in the 
 *• S- last times of refreshing, when Righteous- 
 
 ness and Truth shall flourish in the Earth, 
 in opposition to the present World, which 
 (St. John 1 Ep. 5. 19. says) lieth in Evil. 
 This I own is ultimately to be understood 
 of the great Destruction of Antichrist; yet 
 not exclusively of these lesser Desolations, 
 which the Princes and Rulers of the Earth 
 shall bring upon themselves ; till finally, by 
 the just Vengeance of God, the Wicked shall
 
 OF THE SWORD. 23 
 
 he shaken out of the Earthy as that ancient 
 Writer Joh expresses it, Chapter 38. 12. to 
 make way for a Kingdom of Righteousness 
 and Peace, which must at last take place 
 upon the Earth. And as these Desolations 
 are by our Blessed Lord reckoned amongst 
 the Signs that shall precede the Coming of 
 Antichrist ; so are they by the Holy Fathers 
 counted as the very Means that shall intro- 
 duce him. So says St. Cyril of Jerusalem;* * Cat.i5. 
 The second Sign of the Coming of Antichrist is, p- 209. 
 when ye shall hear of Wars arid Rumours of^"^^^' ^''<^"' 
 Wars ; and even now are the Persians and Ro- 
 mans at war about Macedonia. And a little 
 after ; The Cojitentions between Erethren make 
 way for Antichrist; and the Devil shall sow 
 Discord betiveen Nations; that the Enemy (viz. 
 Antichrist) may with more ease overcome them. 
 All which is largely attested by Lactantius;1[ t P. 647. 
 The whole Earth shall be in Confusion ; Wars ^'^'*' ^ ''''''• 
 shall rage in every Place ; All Nations shall be 
 in Arms against each other, &c. 
 
 § 6. The Quarter from whence this bloody ?• '^^^ ^^' 
 Desolation shall first arise, is expressly C*''".^*. 
 asserted to be the North, or the Sides of the u^here this 
 Earth. So saitli the Prophet Jeremiah, Chap. Judgment 
 25. V. 32. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, shall begin. 
 Eehold Evil shall go forth from Nation to Na- 
 tion, and a great Whirlwind shall be raised up 
 from the Sides or Coasts of the Earth: Which is 
 also largely attested by many other Places of 
 Holy Scripture.f Besides which, there is ano- X See Chap. 
 ther not contemptible Argument, (especially to ^- 22. 50, 
 some men,) fetched from the Contemplation 
 of the Harmonious Providence of God, who 
 in the economy of the Moral, as well as
 
 24 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 Natural World, so fitly orders and disposes 
 all Occurrences, that even the least and 
 most contemptible, do to those who are 
 disposed to receive them, discover in the 
 Spirit and Mystery of them great and sur- 
 prising Truths. An Instance of which, 
 the whole Story of the Destruction of Ju- 
 dea by the King of JBabylon^ and of Sahylon 
 by the Medes and Persians, has been thought 
 to be by many, both Ancients and Mo- 
 derns; whose, both Crimes and Punish- 
 ments (as I before observed) are transcri- 
 bed and applied to Apostate Christendom, 
 by the Divine Author of the Apocalypse. 
 Many of the most minute Circumstances 
 of which are not slightly to be passed by 
 or neglected ; but this more particularly, 
 that the Judgment is so often threatened to 
 * Compare them both from the North,* which was 
 ha 13, 14. certainly mentioned for some good Reason. 
 Zf,mdb\ T^^. ^^^^ t which we translate the North, 
 Chapters, signifies properly a f Place of Darkness, be- 
 15V t cause (say the latter Rabbins) of its great 
 from]p)i X distance from the Sun, and enjoying so 
 Obnubilavit. very little of its Light. Whether it be up- 
 on this or some other Accounts largely in- 
 sisted upon by the Cabbalistical Writers, 1 
 cannot determine: But the North has been 
 generally used to express the Place of Dark- 
 ness, of the Curse or Vengeance; as may 
 be seen at large in the afore-cited Places of 
 the Holy Prophets. And this I conjecture 
 to be the Reason why the Destruction of 
 Judea by the Babylonians, and of Babylon by 
 the Persians, is so often said to come out of 
 the North ; though Babylon, in respect of
 
 OF THE SWORD. 25 
 
 Judea, and Persia from Babylon, seem rather 
 to lie North-East. For the Destruction of 
 Babylon having a doable End and Design ; 
 the one of Mercy, in delivering the Jewish 
 Captivity ; and the other of Vengeance, 
 in destroying the Enemies and Oppressors 
 of the Church ; so there is a different Stile 
 appropriated to each Part of the Design. 
 For when the Prophets speak by way of 
 Denunciation of Judgment, they always 
 say it comes out of the North, as may be 
 seen at large ; but when they speak by way 
 of Comfort and Encouragement to the 
 Jewish Captives, they then change their 
 Stile from the North to the East. Thus 
 Jeremiah, Chapter 50. 9. says, That God will 
 cause to C07ne up against Babyloti, an Assembly 
 of great Nations from the North-Country : 
 which he confirms, «;. 41. saying, A People 
 shall come from, the North; meaning, no doubt, 
 Cyrus with his 3Iedes and Persians. Never- 
 theless the Prophet Isaiah, comforting the 
 People of God with the Promises of Deliver- 
 ance, upon the Destruction of Babylon by the 
 same Cyrus, says twice, that God calls him 
 from the East, Chapter 41. 2. 46. 11. Cyrus 
 being an Eminent Type of our Blessed Saviour, 
 who is called The Morning, Job 38. 12. 
 Light, Isa. 8. 20. The Day-Spring, Luke 1 . 78. 
 The Day-Star, 2 Ep. Peter 1. 19. and Rev. 
 22. 16. he says of himself, I am. the Morning- 
 Star. And to show how both these Designs 
 were united in him, he is said in the self- 
 same Verse to come from the North and 
 from the East too, Chapter 41. v. 25. 1 have 
 raised up one from the North ; from the rising
 
 20 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 of the Sun shall he call upon my Name, And 
 as from this Quarter of the World the Judg- 
 ments came upon the Jewish Church of the 
 two Tribes, so did they also upon the 
 Western Christian Church by the Goths, 
 Huns, Vandals, and other Barbarous Nations: 
 Which Western Church was understood, by 
 *Vid.Com.ihe highly Illuminated Abbot Joachim,^' 
 in Jer, to be expressed to us in the Type, by the 
 
 ^-'aiT^" Jewish Church properly so called, or the 
 ^^ ' ^ * two Tribes. So also it will be again ; and 
 out of the North shall come that terrible 
 Army upon Christendom, so dreadfully de- 
 scribed by the Prophet Joel 2. 20. Such as 
 there hath never been the like, tior ever shall be, 
 to the Years of many Generations. And as the 
 Apostle St. Peter (1 Ep. 4. 17.) tells us, that 
 Judgment must begin at the House of God ; 
 and the Prophet Jeremiah, that the Destruc- 
 tion must begin at Jerusalem, Chap. 25. 29. 
 I understand by it, that the Desolation must 
 begin in the Northern Parts of Christendom 
 or Europe; which (as I may say) are the 
 principal Parts of the Holy Catholic 
 Church, for whose Purgation and conse- 
 quent Glorification, all these Punishments 
 are designed. So then the Scourge shall 
 first light upon the Western or European 
 Church, and probably for the same Rea- 
 sons on the most corrupt Parts of it, to 
 bring them to a Sense of their sad Condi- 
 tion, to put them in mind of their abomi- 
 nable Deviations, and lamentable Apostacy 
 from their first Love and Zeal, which were 
 once stronger than Death ; but now, through 
 the miserable abundance of Iniquity, quite
 
 OF THE SWORD. 27 
 
 cold and dead. And as a raging Fire ari- 
 sing in one Corner of a City, often wrestles 
 and spreads itself, in spite of Opposition, 
 to the consuming of the whole : So shall 
 the Northern Princes kindle a Flame that 
 shall not be quenched, till it have accom- 
 plished the End for which it is sent. Their 
 Disputes and Contentions shall influence 
 and engage their Neighbours, either by 
 Virtue of Leagues and Alliances, or upon 
 the Account of Public Safety, by keeping 
 the Balance; or of Politic Interest, by 
 promoting their Divisions, with a Design 
 to make an Advantage thereby ; or by 
 some more secret contagious Influence of 
 the Enemy of Peace, the Author and Spi- 
 rit of Confusion ; till at last all shall be 
 involved in War and Bloodshed, though per- 
 haps not at the same Point of Time, nor 
 upon the same Interests and Pretensions. 
 By this God will break to Pieces and de- 
 stroy the Antichristian Powers of the Earth, 
 and prepare a way for the Establishment 
 of the true Primitive Evangelical Spirit, 
 which shall at last take root and flourish 
 as out of the Earth, notwithstanding all 
 the Opposition that either Men or Devils 
 can make against it. Here then we see 
 the Wrath of God gone forth, and his Sword 
 drawn against the Antichristian Nations ; 
 a Spirit of Drunkenness and Fury is upon 
 them; so that Ammou and Moab shall he 
 divided against Mount Seir, and at last shall 
 help to destroy each other; as in the Day of 
 Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 19. 23. or as the 
 Philistines, 1 Samuel 14. 16, 20. and the Mi-
 
 •28 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 dianiies, Judges 7. 22. Every one shall help 
 to destroy his Brother, and every Mans Sword 
 shall be against his Felloiv. Which the Pro- 
 phet foretold should happen again at the times 
 of the Messiah, Isaiah 9. 4. For as Christ 
 at his first Coming, though ushered in by a 
 most profound Peace, yet came to kindle a 
 Fire; and as he himself said, Luke 12. 51. 
 to bring Division; to set the Father against 
 the Son, and the Son against the Father: So 
 also in these last Days, when he is coming to 
 settle and reconcile the whole Creation to 
 the Creator, and to ascend his Throne in 
 Peace, his rising in Spirit is ushered in by 
 hot burning Wars, and bloody Revolutions 
 through the whole Earth : And the Man 
 of Blood must introduce the King of Peace, 
 and precede and prepare the Way for the 
 glorious Building of the Temple, I Chronicles, 
 28. .3,4. 
 7. A Rem- ^ 7. BuT in the midst of these Destruc- 
 nant saved, tions God will preserve a Remnant ; who, 
 as they have by his Grace escaped the In- 
 fection and Contagion of the Antichristian 
 Spirit, so shall they also escape their Pu- 
 nishments. This is the Promise to the Church 
 of Philadelphia, Rev. 3. 10. Because thou 
 hast kept the Word of my Patience, I also 
 ivill keep thee from the Hour of Temptation^ 
 ivhich shall come upon all the World, to try 
 them that dwell upon the earth. These are 
 Men who, though living in the World, and in 
 an Apostate Antichristian Church, yet were 
 not of it ; i. e. of its Spirit as Corrupt and 
 Antichristian; who, though rejected and 
 disallowed of Men, yet are precious in
 
 OF THE SWORD. 29 
 
 the Sight of God ; whose Righteousness 
 consists not in Word and Name, but is sub- 
 stantial, sincere, and powerful, in the Heart 
 and Spirit, whose Praise is not of Men but 
 of God; who shall accordingly testifj'^ to 
 all the World his Approbation of it, by 
 setting his Mark and Seal upon them, and 
 so preserve them from the Great Desola- 
 tion. Thus under the sounding of the Seven 
 Trumpets, Revelations 7. God took special 
 Care for the Protection and Preservation 
 of his Servants ; giving a particular Com- 
 mand to the four Angels, to whom it was 
 given to hurt the Earth and the Sea, v. 3. 
 Saying, Hurt not the Earth, neither the Sea, 
 nor the Trees, till we have sealed the Servants 
 of, God in their Foreheads. Accordingly they 
 were sealed and preserved from the Judg- 
 ments, which upon the sounding of the 
 Trumpets fell heavy upon the rest of the 
 World. Which Mark or Seal, though like 
 the New Name or Nature, Revelations^. 17. 
 No Man knoweth (perfectly) but he that hath 
 received it: Yet it hath pleased God to give 
 us such Intimations of it in his Holy Word, 
 that even we who have but the very First- 
 Fruits of the Spirit may be able, with God's 
 Assistance, to improve to some imperfect 
 Degrees of Light and Knowledge. The Use 
 of a Seal most commonly referred to in 
 Scripture, is to set a Mark or Character 
 upon Wares and Commodities, to denote 
 the Owner's Right and Property, and to 
 distinguish them from the Goods of others. 
 Now the Church of Christ, or the New 
 Peculium, is in innumerable Places of the
 
 .30 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 New Testament said to be bought or re- 
 deemed as a Property. So 1 Corinthians Q. 20. 
 Ye are bought with a Price; which is again 
 repeated Chapter 7. 23. So the Apostle St. 
 Peter, 1 Ep. 1. 18, 19. Ye luere not redeemed 
 with corruptible Things, as Silver and Gold, 
 but with the precious Blood of Christ. And in 
 this Sense our Blessed Lord is called the Lord 
 that bought them, 2 Ep. 2. 1. meaning, that 
 he hath redeemed us from the Bondage of 
 Corruption, and made us his Sons by Adop- 
 tion and Grace. This Redemption and Adop- 
 tion is twofold ; the First inchoate, or in 
 its first Principles, which is meant by the 
 first sealing in Baptism, answering to the 
 First-Fruits of the Spirit: The Second, 
 which is the End and Consequence of the 
 First, is the fulness of the Spirit, the com- 
 plete Adoption and Redemption. So saith 
 the Holy Apostle St. Paul, Rom. 8. 23. We 
 that have the First- Fruits of the Spirit (which 
 is the first sealing) eveti ive ourselves, groati 
 within ourselves, waiting for the (complete) 
 Adoption, even the Redemption of our Body, 
 Which plainly shows that the Adoption 
 here meant is distinct from the First-Fruits 
 of the Spirit, because they which had 
 these, yet waited for that ; and what a Man 
 seeth (or hath) why doth he yet hope for? As 
 the same Apostle says, v. 24. And as the 
 Redemption of the Natural Body is the last 
 completing Act of the perfect Redemp- 
 tion, it will follow that the internal Work 
 must be first finished, and so the Redemption 
 to which we ivere sealed by the (First-Fruits of 
 the) Spirit, as the same Apostle witnesseth,
 
 OF THE SWORD. 31 
 
 Ephesians 4. 30. must be the Restitution of the 
 whole Man, Body, Soul, and Spirit, from 
 the Bondage of Sin and Corruption, by 
 the overshadowing Power of the Holy 
 Ghost producing in us the New Birth or 
 Nature, which is from Heaven; being not 
 born of corruptible Seed, or of Blood, nor 
 of the Will of Flesh, nor of the Will of 
 Man, but of God. These therefore hav- 
 ing passed through the Cross, and by 
 Faith overcome the Spirit of this World, 
 and the Corruption of their Natures, have 
 by consequence overcome Death and the 
 Curse, and are out of the reach of both : 
 I do not mean in such a Manner and De- 
 gree, as they shall be when they shall have 
 put on their Resurrection-Body, and are 
 come to that State of Impassibility which 
 is the Privilege of the perfect Renova- 
 tion ; but that they shall be in such a State 
 or Principle that God shall interpose his 
 Providence, perhaps in a miraculous Way, 
 for their Preservation, with some faint 
 Appearances of the afore-mentioned super- 
 natural State, hinted to us Revelations 15. by 
 their being upon Mount Sion. This is what 
 the Prophet Joel tells us. Chapter 2. v. 32. 
 Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the 
 Lordf shall be saved. The Reason of which is 
 given in the following Words ; For (or be- 
 cause) m Mount Sio?i and Jerusalem shall he 
 Deliverance; (saith the English Translation) 
 or, as it is in the Hebrew,* a saved Remnant pito^^Q * 
 or Company. Which is confirmed by t^^G p^^t for the 
 Prophet Obadiah, v. 1 7. Upon Mount Sion shall Adjecf^x 
 be a Deliverance ; or (as it is in the Margin) D'tO vB
 
 32 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 they that escape; who are, v. 21. called 
 Cy^K^D * Saviours (or the saved) * upon Mount Sion; 
 'Ava.ffu?j>^ivQi (or as the LXXII understood it, from Mount 
 LXXll.^ Sion-\) expressing those who are preserved 
 t E|opa? fj.Qjjj ^j^g Judgments and Vengeance, by be- 
 ing in the Spirit of the Heavenly Kingdom ; 
 who by the Faith and Patience of the 
 Cross have fitted and disposed themselves 
 for the Reception (^f their Influences. For 
 nothing hinders those heavenly Worlds, or 
 Principles, from opening and displaying 
 themselves in our Souls, seeing we have 
 in us the Seeds of them all, but our un- 
 fitness to receive them ; such as these shall 
 be preserved from the Power of the Swordy 
 Job 5. 20. And whilst the rest of the World 
 are groaning under the Miseries and Con- 
 fusions of Battle, They shall divell in peace- 
 able Habitations, in sure Dwellings^ and in 
 quiet resting Places, Isaiah 32. 18. 
 8. The ^ 8. The Manner of this Preservation, 
 
 Manner of ^y wherein it shall consist, is hard to deter- 
 serration. ^^^^ '• Whether they shall be, like the Is- 
 raelites in the midst of the Plagues oi Egypt ^ 
 preserved secure, not only in their Persons, 
 but also in their Estates and Possessions, 
 God making a miraculous Distinction be- 
 twixt the one and the other ; or whether 
 it shall be only of their Persons; but the 
 latter is most probable, viz. That God 
 shall suffer them to be robbed and stripped 
 of their Estates and Possessions, but shall 
 save their Lives by a wonderful Delive- 
 rance ; that they shall survive those dread- 
 ful Times of Vengeance, and when they 
 are ended shall come forth with Songs of Praise,
 
 OF THE SWORD. 33 
 
 and everlasting Joy shall be upon their Heads, 
 and Sorroiv and Sighing shall Jiee away, Isaiah 
 35. 10. and 51. li. They shall lift up their 
 Voice ;* they shall sing for the 3Iajesty of the "'■ or kcctu- 
 Lord. Wherefore praise the Lord in Urim, ^•^"P^f''^? ^t' 
 even the Name of the Lord God of Israel, from lxx/i 
 the Isles of the Sea, Isaiah 24. 14, 15. mean- 
 ing the Western Islands, not improbably our 
 own Country, called in the next Verse, the 
 Wing of the Earth, from whence Songs of 
 Praise, or (as the LXXII ■\ seem to under- t T£>«t« 
 stand it) wondrous Things were heard ; which wacra^/.E?. 
 may possibly be a place of Refuge in that 
 Day. But to return ; the Holy Scriptures 
 seem plainly to favour this Opinion, That the 
 Preservation of the Righteous shall be only 
 of their Persons (unless perhaps also of their 
 near Friends for their sakes) as it was in the 
 Case of Lot; for whose Sake even his Sons- 
 in-Law (who it plainly appears by the Se- 
 quel of the Story were not personally qua- 
 lified) might have been preserved if they 
 would, Genesis 19. 14. But by no means of 
 their Estates and Possessions. For, alas ! 
 these they have long ago forsaken in their 
 Hearts : They are the poor in Spirit, and 
 the Meek of the Earth, to whom this Deli- 
 verance is promised ; such as have forsaken 
 the World, have forgotten themselves and 
 their Father's House, and are seeking after 
 a better House, even that is not made with 
 Hands ; and an abiding City, even an hea- 
 venly. They are dead to tlie World, with 
 the Pleasures and Profits of it, esteeming 
 the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than 
 all the Treasures of Egypt or l^abylon; for 
 
 D
 
 34 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 their Hearts as well as their Treasures are 
 in Heaven, out of the reach of Disappoint- 
 ment and Loss, where neither Moth nor 
 Rust do corrupt, and where Thieves do 
 not break through and steal : The only 
 Use they made of their Riches, was to 
 please God and accomplish his Will, in mi- 
 nistring to the Necessities of the Saints, 
 and relieving their needy Brethren. And 
 they know that the Will of God is perhaps 
 better obeyed by a cheerful submission and 
 Resignation to the disposals of Providence, 
 than by all the most costly Offerings that 
 a charitable Soul can make. Finally, they 
 desire nothing but to be fixed in God, to 
 be clear and void of all Creatures, and to 
 maintain in themselves a holy Quiet, a 
 divine Peace; enjoying in their Poverty 
 great Riches; in their Miseries great Con- 
 tent ; in their Afflictions exceeding Joy ; 
 and in their continual Labours great Rest 
 and Peace. Hence are those Admonitions 
 to the Servants of God, in order to pre- 
 pare them for that time, to sit loose from 
 the Things of the World, and to seek prin- 
 cipally the Kingdom of God, and its Righ- 
 teousness, and not to be seeking great Things 
 for ourselves (i. e. Honours, Estates, and Pre- 
 ferments) at a time ivhen God is about to break 
 down what he has builded up, and to pluck uj) 
 ivhatsoever he hath planted ; and our Lives only 
 shall be given us for a Prey, in all Places whi- 
 thersoever we shall go ; as the Prophet Jere- 
 "> miah tells Baruch, Chap. 45. 5. So also that 
 of Esdras, O my People, hear my Word: Make 
 you ready to the Battle ; and in those Evils be
 
 OF THE SWORD. 35 
 
 even as Pilgrims upon the Earth. He that selleth, 
 let him he as him that jiecth away ; and he that 
 buyeth, as one that shall lose : He that occupieth 
 Merchandize, as he that hath no Profit by it : 
 And he that buildeth, as he that shall not dwell 
 therein : He that sotveth, as if he shotdd not 
 reap : So also he that j)l(it^teth the Vineyard, as 
 he that shall riot gather the Grapes : They that 
 marry, as though they shoidd get no Children ; 
 and they that marry not, as the JVidotvers : And 
 therefore they that labour, labour in vain, 2 Esd. 
 16. 40. Hence also our Blessed Saviour, 
 Matthew 2, A. 16*. warns his Disciples, and in 
 them all Christians, that when they shall see 
 the Abomination of Desolation in the Holy 
 Place: That is, in its complete and ultimate 
 Meaning, Antichrist ; but in a more lax and 
 open Sense, Sin and Error patronized and 
 justified in those Places, and by those Per- 
 sons where, and amongst whom, nothing but 
 Truth and Holiness ought to be found ; 
 that then, in Expectation of the approach- 
 ing Judgments, They that are in Judea should 
 flee unto the Mountains: Which Words, though 
 in their first and literal Signification they 
 did imply, that the Jews, when they saw 
 Jerusalem compassed about with Armies, 
 should take that for a Signal to escape to the 
 Hill-Countries of Judea, that so they might 
 be more out of the reach of the Roman Ar- 
 mies : Yet in a mystical Sense, the same 
 may be applied to all Christians : under- 
 standing by the Hills, the Everlasting Hills, 
 the Heavenly Mountains of Virtue and 
 Contemplation, from whence alone we must 
 expect Help and Protection. Psalm 121. v. L 
 
 d2
 
 30 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 Then he that is upon the House-top ; that is, 
 advanced in the Spiritual Life, let him not 
 come down to take any thing out of his House ; 
 i. e. let him not condescend to intermix 
 with the impertinent and trifling Concerns 
 of this World. And let not him that is in the 
 Field; i. e. working in God's Vineyard, re- 
 turn to take away his Clothes ; i. e. return to 
 his old clothing which was not of God's Spirit , 
 Isaiah 30. 1 . and which must be taken off, to 
 discover the nakedness of those who are not 
 clothed with the true clothing, which is the 
 Righteoustiess of the Saints, Rev. 3. 18. 19. 8. 
 and so on ; teaching us thereby, the Ne- 
 cessity of withdrawing our Affections from 
 those Pleasures and Enjoyments which must 
 be forsaken, when we shall be forced to leave 
 all, and shift for ourselves. For it is pro- 
 bable, that as God hath generally dealt 
 with his Servants at such times, so he will 
 deal with them then, i. e. by some secret 
 means or other, warn them to escape out 
 of those Places which are in danger. So 
 God did to Lot in the Destruction of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah ; and so (to mention no more) 
 Ecclesiastical History informs us, that he 
 did to the Christians in Jerusalem, a little 
 before its Destruction, warning them to 
 escape to Pella, a little Ancient City of Pa- 
 lestitie, not far off. So it is probable God 
 will deal with his Servants again, even so 
 many of us, as have, in the Faith and Ex- 
 pectation of this time of trial, waited pa- 
 tiently in the way of the Cross, for that 
 Spirit of Adoption and Sealing, which shall 
 baptize us into that living Communion and
 
 OF THE SWORD. 37 
 
 Fellowship of Love, where tliose Virgin- 
 Souls, in whatever Kingdom, Country, or 
 Nation, they are hidden, scattered, and dis- 
 persed, shall be united in the Spirit and 
 Centre of Unity, which is the true Com- 
 munion of Saints, John 17. 2]. Eph. 1. 10. 
 4. 13. to whom the Glory of the Mount 
 Sion Kingdom shall come, consisting in a 
 perfect Security from the Curse, where Dark- 
 ness, Sin, and Death, are perfectly swallowed 
 up in Victory. 
 
 § 9. The Sum of what is here advanced 9. A JRe- 
 seems to be elegantly comprised in the capitulation 
 9th Chapter of the Prophecy of Ezekiel. ^* ^^^ ^ ^' 
 In the preceding Chapter God shows the 
 Prophet in a Vision, the Abomination in the 
 Holy Place, which provokes him to Jealousy, 
 and to bring Ruin and Desolation on the 
 Church and Nation of the Jews. Thus he 
 speaks, v. 17, 18. Hast thou seen this? (i. e. 
 The various kinds of Idolatry afore-men- 
 tioned) Is it a light thing to the House of 
 Judah, that they commit the Abominations 
 which they commit here J For they have Jilled 
 the Land ivith Violence, and have returned to 
 provoke 7ne to Anger ; and lo ! they put the 
 Branch to their Nose : Therefore ivill I also deal 
 in Fury : Mine Eye also shall not spare : Nei- 
 ther will I have pity : And though they cry in 
 mine Ears with a loud Voice, I ivill 7iot hear 
 them. By the Jewish Church in this Place, 
 which was then the Peculium or Visible 
 Church, we may understand, in a mystical 
 Sense, the Christian; whose Abominations 
 when they are come to the heighth, call for 
 the same Vengeance and Judgments as theirs
 
 38 OF THE SWORD, 
 
 did. And accordingly in Chapter 9. he be- 
 gins to show how the Vengeance is execu- 
 ted. The first Thing remarkable is, a great 
 Cry to them that had the Charge of the 
 City, to come near every Man with his de- 
 stroying Weapon in his Hand. Which may 
 answer to* the Cry and Roaring afore-men- 
 tioned, out of the Prophet Joel and the Reve- 
 lations ; And behold six 3Ien came from the 
 ivay of the higher Gate, which lieth toward the 
 North, and every 3Ian a slaughter (or break- 
 ing) Weapon in his Hand: By the Number 
 Six we are to understand destroying (and 
 probably evil) Angels, the Executioners of 
 the Divine Vengeance, to whom the Num- 
 * Hence ber* Six is most fitly applied ; expressing 
 this Number ^Ym^ they have not yet attained to the 
 peatedi?tthe^^^^^^^ Septenary of Harmony and Peace, 
 Character- where all Discord and Strife are done away, 
 istic o/Anti- being swallowed up in the Universal Prin- 
 chrtst, Rev. (>jp|g Qf Rest and Love. The next Thinsi: 
 
 xiii 18 • • 
 
 observable is, that they came Jrom the North ; 
 that being, as was before observed, the 
 Region of the Curse and of Vengeance. And 
 one Man among (or in the midst of) them, 
 was clothed with Linen, with a Writer s Ink- 
 horn by his side, v. 2. In the midst of these 
 six Destroyers is a seventh Person, coming 
 in the Spirit of Peace and Mercy, figured 
 by the Number Seven ; he is clothed with 
 Linen, signifying Evangelical Righteousness, 
 Revelations 19. 8. And the Glory of the God of 
 Israel ivas gone up from the Cherub whereupon 
 he was, to the Threshold of the House. The 
 \r\^'0 t Word t which we translate Threshold, seems 
 to have been otherwise imderstood by the
 
 OF THE SWORD. .'J9 
 
 LXX in this Place, having translated it 
 afOpioi/, as they have also in three other 
 Places of this Prophecy ; a Word signify- 
 ing the open Air, or the Door-place, as it 
 is used in three Places of the 40th Chapter 
 of this Prophecy ; it has also been nsed to 
 signify the Covering or Roof of a House ; 
 whence 'Aae^ohG^joi/ in Sophocles, is rendered 
 by the Scholiasts Qs^^ov v.ocra.'n-ira.C^fj^oi ; all im- 
 porting the departure of the Skecinah, or 
 Glorious Presence, from the Cherubims to 
 the Door, the Roof or Covering of the 
 House; by all vi^hich we are to understand 
 God's forsaking his Church, because of the 
 full Measure of their Iniquities. And he 
 called to the Man clothed with Linen, that had 
 the Writers Inkhorn by his side, v. 3. And 
 the Lord said wdo hitn, Go through the midst 
 of the City, through the midst of Jerusalem, 
 and set a Mark upon the Foreheads of the Men 
 that sigh, and that cry for all the Abominations 
 that be done in the midst thereof, v. 4. Here 
 we see God's first and princijial Care is to 
 show Mercy to his chosen Children and Ser- 
 vants, by marking them as his peculiar 
 Property, as Persons on whom the Curse 
 can have no Power ; and so we find in 
 Holy Scripture, that Vengeance cannot be 
 poured out till the Servants of God are safe 
 and out of Danger. So the Angel that was 
 commissioned to destroy Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah, advises Lot to make haste to escape to 
 his little City of Refuge ; For (saith he, Gen. 
 19. 22.) / cannot do any thing till thou be 
 come thither. So Revelations 7. 3. The 
 Angels are commanded. Hurt not the Earth,
 
 40 OF THE SWORD. 
 
 fieither the Sea, nor the Trees, till we have 
 sealed the Servants of our God in their Fore- 
 heads. They being like the Twelve Priests in 
 the River Jordan, Joshua 3. who stopped the 
 Floods from overflowing till they were clean 
 got over. And when this Sealing of the Righ- 
 teous was finished, an audible Voice came 
 to the six Destroyers, saying, Go ye after 
 him through the City; and smite: Let not your 
 Eye spare ; neither have pity. Slay utterly Old 
 and Young, both Maids, and little Children, 
 and Women ; but come not near any Man, on 
 whom is the Mark ; and begin at my Sanctuary. 
 It is to be an utter Destruction, and to begin 
 at the Sanctuary or House of God ; that, 
 when it is corrupt, being the Source and 
 Spring of all Abominations ; Religion, when 
 it is corrupted, of the best Thing is become 
 * Corrup- the worst.* Then they began at the ancient 
 tio optimi Men ivhich ivere before the House. By the an- 
 pessima. ^^^^^ 3Ien which were before the House, may 
 be understood, those ancient Levites, who 
 being for their Age discharged from the 
 difficult and laborious Services of their 
 Functions, were said to be free, as it is ex- 
 pressed, 1 Chronicles 9. 33. who are said also 
 to be the chief of the Fathers, or ancient Men; 
 and who might properly be said to be before 
 the House, their Charge being to lodge round 
 about the House of God, and to open it every 
 Morning, v. 27. And thereby may possibly 
 be meant the Heads of the Apostate Chinch, 
 in whose Guilt they cannot but be deeply 
 involved, they being constituted Overseers 
 and Watchmen, to take charge of the Flock 
 antl Church of God, and put a stop to
 
 OF THE SWORD. 41 
 
 every the least beginning of Corrnption ; and 
 these being first in the Guilt, are to be first in 
 the Punishment. And he said wito them, De- 
 Jile the House, and Jill the Courts ivith the 
 slain ; Go ye forth. These last Words, Go ye 
 forth, seem to be the last Charge or Instruc- 
 tion given to these Six Executioners, which it 
 is said in the next Words they punctually ob- 
 served : They went forth arid slew in the City, 
 V. 7. as the Seventh Man, who had the Writer's 
 Inkhorn, did his; for it is said, v. W. Behold 
 the Man clothed with Linen, which had the 
 Writer s Inkhorn hy his side, reported the mat- 
 ter; sayin'^, I have done as thou hast command- 
 ed me. All which the Lord will hasten in his 
 time.
 
 PART II. 
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 Jerem. ix. 21, 22. 
 
 2 1 . Death is come up into our Witidows, and is 
 entered into our Palaces, to cut off the Chil- 
 dren from ivithout, and the young- Men from 
 the Streets. 
 
 22. Speak, thus saith the Lord, even the Car- 
 cases of Men shall fall as Dung upon the open 
 Fields, and as the hatidful after the Harvest- 
 man, and none shall gather them. 
 
 The Pesti- rTT^HE next Instance of Judgment to 
 lence. J^ be considered, is the Plague or Pes- 
 
 tilence ; which, as being one of the Sore 
 Judgments that God inflicts upon a guilty 
 Nation, Ezekiel 14. 21. must also bear its 
 Part in that Great Day of Trouble, as our 
 Lord tells us. For Nation shall rise against 
 Nation, and Kitigdom against Ki7igdom; and 
 there shall he Famines, and Pestilences, and 
 Earthquakes, in divers places, Matthew 24. 7. 
 And this indeed seems to be a deeper and 
 more internal Manifestation of the Curse or 
 Wrath of God in external Nature : For 
 whereas the former seemed to be a more 
 general and circumferential Evil, in re- 
 spect of particular Persons, who cannot be 
 supposed (at least a great Part of them) 
 any otherwise to suffer, than in their In-
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 43 
 
 terests and Estates ; this does affect every 
 particular Person that draws in the com- 
 mon Air of the Country or Nation thus 
 infected ; that very Air which is the natu- 
 ral Medium of Life and Vegetation, be- 
 coming to us a Vehicle of Corruption and 
 Death. 
 
 § 1. With this God will chastise and mor- The Pride 
 tify that other grand Division of Sin, The of Life. 
 Pride of Life, which consists in a perfect 
 Opposition to the Humility and Self-Abase- 
 ment of the Cross ; as the other, viz. The 
 Lust of the Eye, to the Love, and Meekness, 
 and Poverty of the Christian Spirit; ma- 
 nifesting thereby, their Antichristian Root 
 and Original. But that we may be able 
 more perfectly to discover its ISature and 
 Properties, it will be necessary to trace it 
 to its first Principles, viz. The Birth or 
 Rising of the corrupt or bestial Image in 
 Man, upon his withdrawing himself from 
 his Depend ance upon God. The Conse- 
 quence whereof was the withdrawing the 
 chaste Virgin of God's Wisdom, wherewith 
 Man was clothed and illustrated, both in- 
 ternally and externally ; instead of which 
 came Ignorance, Infirmity, Darkness, and 
 Death : His Soul that was before all Light, 
 Harmony, and Beauty, being estranged 
 from the Light of God, became full of 
 Darkness and Sin. His Passions, that were 
 before in perfect Subordination to the ru- 
 ling Principle, viz. The Spirit within him, 
 run into Confusion and Rebellion. His 
 Body which was before Paradisiacal, Holy, 
 Pure, and Immortal, became weak, heavy.
 
 44 OP THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 and infirm. He is subject and exposed io 
 the evil Influences and divided Properties 
 of the Elements, which have Power to 
 impose on him the Necessity of Pain, Sick- 
 ness, Want, Hunger, Mortality, and Pu- 
 trifaction. So that, in short, his Light is 
 become Darkness ; his Strength is Weak- 
 ness ; his Beauty is Deformity ; his Wisdom 
 is Folly ; and he thai was created in the 
 Image of God, bears now in his degenerate 
 State the Image of the Devil. 
 The same ^ 2. Now the Consideration of so glo- 
 
 further con- ^,-^ ^ ^idle as we have forfeited by our 
 Transgressions, and the deplorable Condi- 
 tion into which we are fallen, ought to have 
 this good Effect upon us, viz. to keep us 
 constant in HumiHty and Self-Abasement : 
 It should teach us to despise this vile bestial 
 Image, and to mortify our corrupt animal 
 Life, refreshing and feasting ourselves with 
 the Contemplation of the glorious ever- 
 lasting Inheritance, out of which we have 
 been so long driven; but which is re- 
 deemed for us by the promised Seed, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; even for so many of us as 
 shall follow him in the dying Process of his 
 Cross, that we may be raised up with him 
 in Newness of Life, as we are told by the 
 Holy Apostle ; Jf we be dead with him, we 
 shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall 
 also reign ivith him, 2 Tim. 2. 11, 12. But 
 * /?o»i. 8. notwithstanding all this, * though the Church 
 
 '■^- of God has for many Ages been groaning 
 
 and travelling together in Pain, for the 
 complete Adoption, viz. the Redemption 
 or Restitution of the first pure paradisiacal
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 46 
 
 State or Body, and the wliole Creation; 
 nay, and the Spirit of God himself lias 
 been assisting and interceding with Groans 
 unutterable, v. 26. yet (it is sad to see, 
 how) the greater part of Mankind do neg- 
 lect and disregard so glorious an Inheri- 
 tance, thereby doing Despite to the Spirit 
 of Grace, and to the Blood of the Cove- 
 nant ; by the Virtue and Efficacy whereof, 
 we may (as Prisoners of Hope, Zech. 9. 12.) 
 be redeemed and set free from our Capti- 
 vity : Instead of which, we, like the Israel- 
 ites in Egyptian Slavery, or the miserable 
 Remains of the once celebrated Greek Na- 
 tions, have been Slaves so long, as to lose 
 (if not the very Name, yet) the Idea of 
 Liberty and Dominion, being not only 
 contented with, but proud of our Chains ; 
 and who, therefore, instead of putting our- 
 selves into the way of the Cross, in the 
 Spirit of Mortification and Obedience, that 
 so we may return to our long forfeited Pos- 
 session, after the Revolution of a perfect 
 Septenary in the great Jubilee, Leviticus 25. 8. 
 do confine our Hopes and Prospects to this 
 external Principle or animal Life ; placing 
 that Love and Complacency, which God 
 that made us for himself, has the only 
 Right or Title to, on those imaginary Per- 
 fections which our deluded Fancies repre- 
 sent to be in ourselves. Such are Beauty, 
 Strength, Wisdom, &c. And this irregu- 
 lar Complacency or Love, is truly and 
 properly The Pride of Life* To which also * ^A^ctiit- 
 may be reduced that other Species of Pride, "e** tS /Sia. 
 called particularly Spiritual : Which (though
 
 46 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 appearing to be of a distinct Nature) is 
 plainly founded on the same Ground, and 
 ariseth from the same corrupt Root and 
 Original, viz. degenerate Nature being 
 chiefly visible in them ; who being Stran- 
 gers to the true internal Ground of Reli- 
 gion, which is the internal Conformity of 
 our Will and Understanding to the Light 
 and Will of God, place it all in the Outside 
 and Appearance, making it to consist of 
 a few mechanical Actions, graced with an 
 Air of Severity and Seriousness. These, 
 like Day-flowers, make the greatest Show, 
 and are under the greatest Temptations to 
 Pride and Self-Conceit. These are they 
 whom the Apostle mentions, 2 Timothy 3. 5. 
 Having a Form of Godliness, but denying the 
 Power of it. That Esteem, therefore, or 
 Love, which each of those may have for 
 his imaginary Excellencies, which may any 
 way lessen or destroy his Humility and 
 Love towards God, is this Pride of Life. But 
 alas ! Why is Earth and Ashes Proud ? For 
 such a one selleth his Soul to Sale ; because 
 while he liveth, he casteth away his Bowels. 
 The Physician cutteth ofl' a long Disease ; 
 and he that is to Day a King, to Morrow 
 shall die : For when a Man is dead, he 
 shall inherit creeping Things, Beasts, and 
 Worms. The beginning of Pride is, when 
 one departeth from God, and his Heart is 
 turned away from his Maker. For Pride is 
 the beginning of Sin ; and he that hath it 
 shall pour out Abomination: And therefore 
 the Lord brought upon them strange Cala- 
 mities, and overthrew them utterly. TheLoi'd
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 47 
 
 hath cast doivn the Thrones of proud Princes, 
 and set up the meek in their stead. The Lord 
 hath plucked up the Roots of proud Nations, and 
 planted the lowly in their place. So that Pride 
 was not made for Men, Ecclus. 10. 9 — 19. 
 
 § 3. That this Branch of Sin will be That this 
 eminently prevailing in the latter Days, ^"^ "''/jf *5 
 will appear. First, from what has been ob- Yhf latter "^ 
 served in the former Part, p. 1 . concerning Dai/s. 
 the Universal Increase of the whole Body 
 of Sin. And if the whole Body be arrived 
 at its complete Stature, this (which is so 
 considerable a part of it) must be likewise. 
 And as the former sort were so deeply in- 
 fected in the Malice and Cruelty of the 
 dark World, as to delight themselves in 
 Blood and Rapine : So those who are in 
 the Pride of Life, shall forget the God that 
 made them, and idolize their own fancied 
 Perfections, inverting that grand Precept of 
 the everlasting Gospel ; * Thou shall love the * Maith. 
 Lord thy God, ivith all thy Heart, and with 22. 37. 
 all thy Soul, Sfc. and transferring it to them- 
 selves ; being themselves the Centre of their 
 own Happiness, and setting up their own 
 impotent and corrupt Nature in the place and 
 stead of God. 
 
 This is also particularly and expressly fore- 
 told by St. Paul ; In the last Days, perilous 
 Times shall come; for Men shall be lovers of 
 their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud,^ bias- t 'AXa^««?. 
 phemers, disobedient to Parents ; unthankful, 
 unholy, ivithout natural Affection, heady, high- 
 minded ; having a Form of Godliness, but deny- 
 ing the Power thereof, 2 Tim. .3. 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 Which Places, compared with 2 Peter 3. 3. and
 
 48 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 Jiide 18. do express a sort of Men, who, in 
 Opposition to the SimpUcity and Obedience 
 of the Cross, (the peculiar Badge and Charac- 
 teristic of the real Christian,) do acknowledge 
 no other Law or Obligation than what 
 their brutish Appetite, or (at most) their 
 own weak and benighted Reason shall sug- 
 gest or approve : And who consequently 
 shall think it their greatest Concern, and 
 spend the greatest Part of their Time to 
 accomplish themselves according to their 
 own Ideas of Perfection ; and (as they call 
 it) make a Figure in the World. They 
 have no notion of those Christian Duties, 
 of Meekness, Poverty of Spirit, Self-denial, 
 and Mortification, • so earnestly recom- 
 mended by our Blessed Lord. The Beauty 
 of Holiness doth not affect them half so 
 much, as that of their own Persons ; and 
 the Praise of Men, in their Opinion, is 
 every way preferable to the Praise of God : 
 And the Wisdom of God himself, if it 
 seems to interfere with, or contradict their 
 Oracles of Reason, must be decried as Un- 
 reasonable, foolish, and contradictory. Now 
 if these are the Persons comprehended un- 
 der this grand Division of Sin, The Pride of 
 Life, as it seems plain to me they are, 
 then we need not multiply Arguments to 
 prove the future Increase of these Men : 
 Since we ourselves (upon whom the Ends 
 of the World are surely come) do every 
 Day see such prodigious Excess of this 
 kind, as ought to excite our most generous 
 Compassion for them, and most diligent 
 Watchfulness for ourselves, that we fall
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 49 
 
 not under the same Condemnation. In the 
 Proof of which we need not be very par- 
 ticular, but only appeal to the daily Ob- 
 servation of every impartial Spectator. Do 
 not we see how the Men of Power and 
 Fortune, which God that gave them will 
 exact a severe Account of, do very often, 
 instead of applying them to the End for 
 which they were designed, only make use 
 of them to aggrandize themselves, and sup- 
 port them in their extravagant and luxuri- 
 ous Pleasures ? Do we not see how the mo- 
 dern Pretenders to Wit and Sense, set it 
 up in Opposition to what is Good and Sa- 
 cred, making it the grand Concern of their 
 Lives, to deserve that Character? To go 
 yet further; Do we not see the Great Pa- 
 trons of rational and philosophical Truth, 
 some of them expressly denying the very 
 Being and Existence of a God ; others 
 granting this, yet denying the Necessity or 
 Possibility of having any Revelation or 
 Discovery made of Himself or his Will? 
 And all for no other Reason, but because 
 they cannot comprehend the Manner or 
 Reasons of God's acting with Men; nor 
 exactly reconcile every Difficulty which 
 their darkened Understanding may meet 
 with, and very often themselves make: 
 Whilst a third sort, admitting what the 
 others deny, yet are so in love with their 
 own darling Opinions and Prejudices, as to 
 make them the Standards of Divine Truth ; 
 to which the very Scriptures themselves 
 must be reduced, and made to speak their 
 Language, though never so contrary, before 
 
 E
 
 50 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 they shall pass for such. So also amongst 
 the divided and subdivided Parties, into 
 which our modern Christendom is rent and 
 crumbled, how few are there that follow 
 their Saviour Christ Jesus, in the Spirit of 
 Humility, Resignation, and bearing the 
 Cross. Do they not rather every one 
 pride himself in the Rags of his own filthy 
 Covering, instead of the Covering of God's 
 */««. 30. 1. Spirit? *They have forsaken the Fountain of 
 living Waters, and have hewn out for them- 
 selves broken Cisterns that will hold no Water, 
 Jer. 2. 13. And rather than they will walk 
 in the dark and disconsolate Path of the 
 Cross, they will kindle a false Fire of their own, 
 and ericompass themselves with Sparks of their 
 own kindling ; hut their End must he that they 
 shall lay down in Soitow, Isaiah 50. 11. That 
 is, All those Persons, whose Love, whose 
 Happiness, and whose Religion is founded 
 no deeper than the Flesh, or outward Man, 
 shall be punished in a more remarkable and 
 exemplary Manner, by Plagues and Diseases, 
 which shall blast and destroy that Life or 
 Principle, on which they have bestowed all 
 their Care and Pain, and in which they have 
 put their Trust. 
 That there ^ 4. That there shall be t Pestilences or 
 shall he sore Diseases in the last Days, more remarkably 
 Diseases in _„ • n xi • i /> ^ i i 
 
 the last ^^ universally than ever, is expressly foretold 
 
 Days. by our Lord. There shall he Famines, Pesti- 
 
 t Aoi/Aoi. lences, and Earthquakes in divers Places, Mat. 
 24. 7. Luke^\. 11. (to omit several Places 
 in the Prophetical Writings which undoubtedly 
 belong to the same time) by which, as I 
 principally understand that Species of Dis-
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 51 
 
 eases, commonly called by us the Plague and 
 Pestilence, so also in a more general Sense all 
 sorts of Diseases incident to lumian Bodies, 
 those more particularly that arise from im- 
 moderate Heat, such as are all sorts and de- 
 grees of Fevers, Inflammations, &c. and the 
 Holy Writers understood the Word in this 
 more general and comprehensive Significa- 
 tion, does appear from many Places of Holy 
 Scripture, whereof I shall only mention one 
 or two. 
 
 (1.) All those Maladies and Diseases 
 which are called Terror, or, (as the *Word * 'A7rop{<». 
 used by the LXXH seems rather to import) 
 extreme Melancholy or Dejection of Spirit; 
 Consumption, Burning Ague, or (f as the t 'iKTeg*. 
 LXXH understood it) the King's Evil, (which 
 also seems to be implied by its Predicate, 
 viz. that shall consume the Eyes) as also what 
 is called, Deut. 28. 22. The Consumption, 
 Fever, Infiammatiori, extreme Eurning, Elast- 
 ing (or Blight), and Mildew, as also v. 28. 
 Madness and Elindness, v. 27. the Eotch of 
 Egypt and the Emerods, the Scab, and the incu- 
 rable Itch, and v, 59, 60, 61. All the great 
 Plagues and sore Sicktiesses, and all the Diseases 
 of Egypt, and every Sickness, arid every Plague 
 that is not ivritten in the Eook of the Laiv. All 
 these, I say, are briefly comprehended in the 
 one \ Word which we translate Pestilence. *l5![f ^ 
 When ye are gathered together within your 
 Cities, I ivill send the Pestilence among you, 
 Levit. 26. 25. The Lord shall make the Pesti- 
 lence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed 
 thee from off the Land, whither thou goest to 
 possess it. Deut. 28. 21. In the latter of which 
 
 E 2
 
 52 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 Places it is observable that God threatens to 
 smite them with this Pestilence, till it have 
 consumed them (utterly, or perfectly consumed 
 IV * them,* as the Words signify) from the Face of 
 -jiL^ the Earth or Land, &c. which if it were meant 
 - precisely of that Species of Distempers so 
 commonly called, it cannot be easily con- 
 ceived what occasion there should be for 
 those other Evils mentioned in the very next 
 Verse. We are, therefore, rather to under- 
 stand by it the whole Complex or Body of 
 Diseases, in which Sense it is commonly 
 used by the latter Prophets, whensoever they 
 had occasion to threaten the Jews with 
 those Judgments which God had before in 
 this Place so solemnly denounced against 
 their Disobedience : So also it is used by 
 the latter Rabbins; as appears particularly 
 from the Book of R. Jacob, intituled Sepher 
 Abehoth Roc/tel, which treats of the last 
 Times, and of the Signs and Tokens that 
 shall precede the Coming of the Messiah^ 
 where Lib. 1. Pait 1. there are these Words, 
 speaking of the second Sign. * God shall 
 ' send upon the World an excessive Heat 
 ' from the Sun, with Consumption and 
 ' Burning Fevers, and other bad Diseases, 
 
 * the Pestilence also, and other Plagues, 
 ' which shall destroy daily thousands of 
 ' People, and so shall all the Wicked in 
 
 * Israel perish.' All of them understanding 
 no more by all these various kinds of Dis- 
 eases, than what is comprehended, by that 
 
 *^5?^one Word t Pestilence, Ezekiel 14. 21. and 
 other Places of the Prophetical Writings, 
 where undoubtedly it was meant to signify
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 more than the Plague or Pestilence precisely 
 so called. 
 
 (2.) This may also be proved by the 
 common use of this Word by the LXXII, 
 who have only in three Places of the Old 
 Testament translated it by Aoj|Uo?, but no 
 less than thirty-five times (by QcHuxlo?, by 
 which Word we understand Death) as it is 
 particularly used Leviticus 26. 25. both by the 
 LXXII, Chaldee Paraphrast, and Vulgar La- 
 tin. So even the Word Aoj|ao? itselfj both 
 in Matthew 24. 7. and Luke 21. 11. is by the 
 Syriac Interpreter rendered Mors. And lastly, 
 the Word Jl^p though in almost innume- 
 rable Places it be translated ©avalo?, and 
 never by Aoi/Ao?, yet it is plain, that in many 
 Places it must be understood by the latter ; 
 to instance only in two or three Places. 
 Death, Qdvoclog, is come up into our Windows^ 
 &c. Jer, 9. 21. and c. 18. v. 21. Deliver up 
 their Children to the Famine, and pour out their 
 Elood by the Force of the Sword, and let their 
 Wives be bereaved of their Children and be 
 Widows, and let their Men be put to Death 
 (&ccva,Too) and let their Young Men be slain with 
 the Sword in Battle. And Eccles. 39. 29. Fire, 
 and Hail, and Famine, and Death, (©avalo? ) all 
 these were created for the Day of Vengeance. 
 All which Places compared together, do show 
 that the Word 15? is promiscuously used 
 with nip, Qxvoilog, and Aoif^U, all expressing 
 that infinite variety of Diseases, Infirmi- 
 ties, and Sicknesses, which are the com- 
 mon and ordinary Means of our Natural 
 Death : Perhaps for this Reason, because 
 the Evils of all other Distempers are, as it
 
 54 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 were, summed up in that one. So then it 
 appears from Scripture, that there shall be 
 a strange Variety of great Sicknesses and 
 Diseases in the last Days ; which might 
 also be further confirmed by many probable 
 Arguments, drawn from Scripture and the 
 Nature of Things : But all these falling 
 more properly under the Third Head, I 
 shall at present omit them, and proceed to 
 show : 
 That these ^ 5. That these shall be the proper and 
 Diseases are pgcuhar Punishments of that great Branch 
 vumshihe ^^ ^^"^ afore- mentioned, viz. The Pride of 
 Pride of Life. Life^ which can be shown no other way, 
 than by making it appear, that whereso- 
 ever in the Holy Scriptures God has either 
 punished, or threatened to punish this Sin, 
 he has always done it in this manner, as I 
 shall endeavour to show in four or five In- 
 stances. 
 
 (1.) The First Instance of this kind shall 
 be that of David numbering the Tribes of 
 Judah and Israel, whose Sin is commonly 
 supposed to consist in the Pride and Con- 
 fidence that he reposed in the Strength of 
 his Armies, and the Number of his Sub- 
 jects ; upon the Commission of which Sin, 
 the Prophet Gad comes unto him, and in 
 the Name of God proposes to him these 
 three Plagues, the Sword, the Famine, and 
 the Pestilence ; and bids him choose for him- 
 self which of them he had rather suffer. 
 In answer to which, he prays that he may 
 fall into the Hands of God, rather than 
 into the Hands of Men, 2 Samuel 24. Not 
 (as it is commonly thought) that he pre-
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. I 
 
 ferred or chose the latter, which is not at 
 all implied in the Text ; since he that pe- 
 rishes by the Famine, doth equally fall into 
 the Hands of God with him that dies by 
 the Pestilence; but he prays that God 
 would turn away the Sword from him, and 
 then punish him as it should please him; 
 Whereupon God proportioning^ his Punish- 
 ment to the Quality of his Sin, sent upon 
 him the Pestilence, to destroy and blast that 
 Arm of Flesh, in which he had so vainly 
 put his Trust. 
 
 (2.) The Second Instance that I shall 
 mention, shall be that solemn Denuncia- 
 tion of Judgment, Isaiah 3. 16. against the 
 Pride of the Daughters of Jerusalem. He 
 says, V. 17. God shall smite with a Scab the 
 Crown of their Head: So the Word* was un- jlDti^ * 
 derstood by Vatablus, Piscator, Junius, and 
 Tremellius, rendering it by Lepra vel Scabie 
 inficiet; and after he had threatened them, 
 V. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. to take away their 
 Ornaments in which they so prided them- 
 selves, he adds, v. 24. that God would in- 
 stead of a sweet Smell punish them with a Stink; 
 or (as the Wordf seems rather to import) pD t 
 with Rottenness : So it was understood by 
 MontanuSy Piscator, Junius, and Tremellius; 
 and so its| radix (because the Word itself 'p'pt^ X 
 is found but in one other Place throughout 
 the whole Scripture) is rendered Psalm 37. 5. 
 Zech. 14. 12. by rmm, (rnVw, and puEw, in the 
 LXXn. And instead of a Girdle, there shall 
 he a Rent (as we render it); or (as §the Word ^^"^^ § 
 may be rather understood) a rotting or 
 decaying in the Parts of the Body ; for
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 though the Word itself occurs no where else 
 in the whole Scriptures, yet such is the 
 Signification of its radix ^j^J importing, to 
 break or shake a thing, till its Parts be sepa- 
 rated one from another ; in which Sense 
 it is particularly used, Isaiah 24. 13. expres- 
 sing the shaking of an Olive-Tree, in order 
 to shake off his Fruit: Not meaning 
 (as is commonly thought) a Rent of their 
 Clothes, but the breaking and consuming 
 of their Bodies ; which it is very probable 
 must proceed from Ulcers and corrupted 
 Sores, from whence proceed Putrefactions 
 and Gangreens, which must be followed by 
 Excision of the Flesh or Members of the 
 Body, God punishing them in the Destruc- 
 tion of that Flesh or Body, which they 
 had so inordinately loved. It is an ingeni- 
 ous Conjecture of a learned Man, that by 
 these Expressions, a Stink, and a Scab, v. 17. 
 and 24. are emphatically meant the Lues 
 Venerea ; and that it seems peculiarly adapted 
 to the Word p^ when complicated with a 
 Consumption, which is thence by some Wri- 
 ters called the Venereal Consumption ; a Dis- 
 temper, which, though it be the Natural Effect 
 and Punishment of The Lust of the Flesh, and 
 therefore may be thought more properly 
 reducible to that Head ; yet may not im- 
 properly be taken notice of in this Place, 
 as being by its noisomeness and filth a pro- 
 per Punishment of The Pride of Life. This 
 (as the Learned too well knew) is at this 
 time commonly complicated with other Dis- 
 eases ; as Scurvy, malignant and hectic 
 Fevers, Vertigo, Falling-Sickness, Catarrhs,
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 57 
 
 Fluxes, Ulcers, and other cutaneous Distem- 
 pers. 
 
 (3.) The Third Instance shall be that of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, 2 Mace. 9. who in the 
 Pride of his Heart (Aia -rnv i-m^ oIv^^uttov ocXa- 
 ^oviocv i. e. so proud was he above the Con- 
 dition of a Man) threatened that he would 
 come to Jerusalem, and make it a common 
 burying Place for the Jeivs; but v. 5. The 
 Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, smote 
 him with a7i invisible and incurable Plague ; for 
 a Pain in the Eowels, ivhich was remediless, 
 came upon him, arid sore Torments of the inward 
 Parts ; so that he ivho a little before thought he 
 might comma7id the Waves of the Sea, and lueigh 
 the high Mountains in a Halance, was noiv cast 
 on the Ground, and carried in a Horse-litter ; 
 showing forth unto all, the manifest Power of 
 God. So that the Worms rose up out of the 
 3ody of this wicked Man ; and whilst he lived 
 iti Sorrow and Pain, his Flesh fell away, and 
 the filthiness of his Smell was noisome to all his 
 Army: And the Man that had thought a little 
 before, that he could reach to the Stars of 
 Heaven, no Man could endure to carry for his 
 intolerable Stink, 2 Mace. 9. 5, 8, 9, 10, 11. 
 The consideration whereof, brought him at 
 length to this pertinent Reflection, v. 12. It is 
 meet to be subject unto God ; and that a Man 
 that is Mortal, should not proudly think of him- 
 self, as if he were God. 
 
 (4.) The Fourth Instance shall be that 
 of Herod, Acts 12. haranguing the People, 
 whereupon they cried out. That it was the 
 Voice of a God, and not of a Man ; and 
 immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him^
 
 58 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 V. 23. because he prided himself in their 
 * 'av9' uv blasphemous Flattery,*' and gave not God 
 ^K ^hiiBjnv ^/^g Glori/ ; and being eaten up of Worms ^ he 
 ^»'|«v rZ 0'?-^,^^g ^^p ^/^g Ghost. God convincing him here- 
 by of his Folly and Madness, in arrogating to 
 himself the Perfections of God, who could 
 not preserve himself from being a Prey to such 
 mean Insects as the Worms that arose out of 
 his own Body. 
 
 And to show (Fifthly) how natural a 
 Connexion there is between this Sin, and 
 this Punishment ; the Prophet Jeremiah, Chap. 
 9. threatening the Jeivs with dreadful Deso- 
 lations by the means of a Pestilence (as it 
 appears plain to me, notwithstanding what 
 Grotius and others have said to the contrary ; 
 compare v. 10, 12, 21, 22. of which more here- 
 after. For the Mountains ivill I take up a 
 weeping and ivailing, and for the Inhabitants 
 of the Wilderness a Lamentation, because they 
 are burnt up, so that none can pass through 
 them, neither can Men hear the Voice of the 
 Cattle, both the Fowl of the Heavens, and the 
 Eeast are fied, they are gone. V. 12. Who is 
 the wise Man thai may understand this, and 
 ivho is he to whom the Mouth of the Lord has 
 spoken, that he may declare it, for what the 
 Land perisheth, and is burnt up like a Wilder- 
 ness that none passeth through? And v. 21. 
 Death is come up into our Windows, and is en- 
 tered into our Palaces, to cut off the Children 
 from without, and the young Men from the 
 Streets. V. 22. Speak, thussaith the Lord, even 
 the Carcasses of Men shall fall as Dung upon the 
 open Fields, and as the handfid after the Harvest- 
 man, and none shall gather them.) The Prophet,
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 69 
 
 I say, after he had threatened them with the 
 dreadful Effects of this Pestilence, he comes, 
 V. 23 and 24. as it were, to point out the 
 Cause of it, and to show them how they should 
 escape it Thus saith the Lord, let 7iot the 
 tvise Mmi glory in his Wisdom, Jior let the 
 mighty Man glory in his Might, let not the rich 
 Man glory in his Riches. But let him that 
 glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and 
 knoweth me, ^c. Plainly intimating', that as 
 their excessive Pride and Self-love had brought 
 those Calamities upon them, so there was no 
 ways to escape them, but by Repentance, Self- 
 denial, and Humility. 
 
 § 6. The Reader will, I hope, pardon The mate- 
 my dwelling longer than ordinary upon the »*«^ <'»' *"- 
 next Head, considerino^ that the present ^Jj^'""*^"'^^ 
 
 • • . (Joiiscs of 
 
 commonness of the Distemper, may justify ^/j^^g Dig- 
 my being more particular upon the com- tempers. 
 mon and ordinary Causes of all infectious 
 and pestilential Diseases ; which may, in 
 general, be reduced to these two: 1. The 
 evil Influences of the heavenly Bodies, and 
 the Irregularities of Seasons. 2. Noxious 
 and hurtful Exhalations from the Body of 
 the Earth. The former sort were called 
 by the Greeks NoVot '"EinhiJ^ixoi, as being of a 
 more universal Contagion than the other ; 
 as we may conceive the Influences darted 
 from those Bodies, (specially when their 
 Positions are so, as that many of them con- 
 cur in the same Influences and Operations) 
 to be of a greater and more extensive Force, 
 than any Halitus, or Vapours, arising from 
 the Earth ; because the Heat of these hea- 
 venly Bodies, which is the Medium whereby 
 
 r
 
 60 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 they are generally supposed to act, must 
 affect our Air and Atmosphere much more 
 powerfully by its direct darting upon us, 
 than those Exhalations which arise from 
 the Earth, and which a very moderate de- 
 gree of Heat will easily extract; and that 
 too, after it is weakened by Reflexion, can 
 be supposed to do: Supposing still, that 
 there is not generally a Concurrence of 
 both these Causes; which, notwithstand- 
 ing what has been said to justify this Dis- 
 tinction, I am very inclinable to believe. The 
 second sort were called simply, Morhi Lethales 
 and Pestes ; as being, though fatal to the Per- 
 sons infected, yet not accounted so universally 
 Contagious as the other. 
 
 (1.) As to the First of these Causes, 
 viz. The Influences of the heavenly Bodies, 
 that they do act upon us, is indisputable; 
 but what particular Bodies these are that 
 have this Power, and by what Virtues or 
 Qualities, or through what Mediums they act, 
 is not so easy to determine : Whether it be 
 some secret innate Power; or, as the Ari- 
 stotelians call it, by their substantial Forms : 
 Whether they act by Effluviums, or some 
 more subtle and powerful Energy ; or, whe- 
 ther they vary their Influences with their 
 Aspects and Positions (as the Crisis of some 
 Distempers depends upon the Change or 
 Full of the Moon.) Or, 2dly, Whether they 
 do not act simply by their Heat, which may 
 at some times be more Intense, by a more 
 strong and vigorous Fomentation of the 
 subtle Fire of which they are composed, 
 which may also depend upon other secret
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 61 
 
 and unknown Causes, Natural or Superna- 
 tural. These (I say) are Questions that 
 cannot be fully answered, till this Veil of 
 Darkness, that separates betwixt us and 
 pure Nature, shall be fully taken away. 
 But the most common and plausible Opi- 
 nion is, that of the Planets, only some 
 have this Power, which they never exert, 
 but in some particular Positions or Conjunc- 
 tions ; and that Comets also (which, con- 
 trary to the common Opinion, are sup- 
 posed to be solid fiery Bodies in an eccen- 
 tric Motion, not Exhalations only) have 
 this Power in a more eminent Degree ; 
 as also fiery Meteors of all sorts : That all 
 these act by subtle Effiuviums^ which first of 
 all affect our Air, and thereby corrupt not 
 only our Bodies immediately, but also all 
 those Plants and Bodies that we feed upon ; 
 which Particles, or EJfluviums, are supposed 
 to be hot in such a Degree, as to destroy 
 the natural Temperature of our Bodies. Thus 
 (Edipus in Seneca, lamenting the sad Pesti- 
 lence that was at Thebes. 
 
 Ignes auget cBstiferi canis (Edip. 
 
 Titan, Leonis terga Nemcei premens ^^*' '• ^' ^^» 
 
 Deseruit amnes humor atque herhas calor, 
 
 Denegat Jructum Ceres 
 
 Adulta, et altisjiava cum spicis cremat. 
 
 With many other Places to the same Pur- 
 pose in that Tragedy. These Influences of 
 the heavenly Bodies, as producing Diseases 
 and Distempers upon Mankind, are largely 
 attested both by the Ancients and Moderns.
 
 62 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 Hippocrates, de Flatibus, p. 197. Edit. Focsii, 
 observes, that most of the Distempers in- 
 cident to Mankind, did arise from the Air 
 we breathe ; and that, therefore, all sudden 
 and violent Changes in it were dangerous. 
 Upon which Account the latter Physicians 
 acknowledge, that the Solstices, especially 
 the Summer ; and the Equinoctials, espe- 
 cially the Autumnal, were very dangerous 
 Seasons. And the great Sydenham himself, 
 Prcefat. ad Opera, Edit. Lond. 1685. confesses 
 that Quartan Agues are almost peculiar to 
 the latter. That great Man owns further, 
 that Epidemical Distempers, and the Pes- 
 tilence itself, do proceed from a corrupt 
 and poisonous Disposition of the Air, but 
 such as is secret and unaccountable ; ac- 
 knowledging, that they are very different 
 in their Nature and Properties, according 
 to the different Constitution of Air; and 
 that besides those which manifestly depend 
 upon the Qualities of the Year, there are 
 some whose Cause is perfectly hidden and 
 unknown; and others that are perfectly re- 
 gular and returning every Year. Many and 
 excellent Reasons may be seen at large in 
 Dr. Goad's Astro-meteorologia Sana, Cap. de 
 Morb. Epidem. p. 13.3, 4, 5, 6. built upon the 
 Authority of Aristotle, Hippocrates, Ptolemy, 
 Kepler, 6fc. showing also what Positions of 
 the heavenly Bodies they are that produce 
 * Raymun- these pestilential Dispositions. And an* 
 us- vinano. gjjjjjjgjjl- physician, who wrote an histori- 
 cal Account of Four several Pestilences that 
 had been in his time, observes, that just 
 before the first, which happened in the
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 Year 1345, there was a Conjunction of Sa- 
 turn. Mars, and Jupiter, in the 19th Degree 
 oi Aquarius, in the Month of March; which 
 Conjunction (says he) was always looked 
 upon to be of fatal Consequence to Man- 
 kind ; and accordingly he says, it was fol- 
 lowed by a strange Alteration in the Air, 
 which produced a most grievous Pestilence, 
 which lasted a long while by fits ; stopping 
 sometimes upon a brisk Frost, or refreshing 
 Shower of Rain ; but breaking out afresh 
 upon very little Occasion : Such as an 
 Eclipse of the Sun, the rising of a Meteor, 
 or such like. The second happened in the 
 Year 1361, just before which Saturn and 
 Mars were in such an Opposition, as was 
 foretold would be fatal to the World. The 
 third happened in the Year 1373, when 
 Mars and Jupiter were in Conjunction. The 
 fourth happened in the Year 1382, before 
 which 31ars and Jiipiter were in Opposition. 
 And the same Year there appeared a dread- 
 ful Comet, seeming to be Twenty Ells 
 in Length. The Year following, for two 
 Months together, viz. August and September, 
 there flew about in the Air, a fiery Body 
 which the Astronomers call Draco, of a very 
 great Length. The Stars (as we call it) 
 shot frequently, the Sky was of a deep Red, 
 or Purple Colour, with a very great Chasm, 
 (or Vorago, as he calls it) appearing in 
 one part. AH these were followed by Abor- 
 tions in Women ; Pains in the Bladder, 
 Sides, and Privy Parts ; especially in the 
 Country which lay under his Tail, or un- 
 der those Signs which were aflfected by it,
 
 64 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 viz. Westward and Northward. The Blood 
 and Choler began to ferment violently, and 
 corrupt. The whole Year was exceeding 
 Dry and Hot, and all People grew Melan- 
 choly ; which Hippocrates says, always fol- 
 low these Appearances, Aphor. 7. lih. 2. 
 Upon this followed the Pestilence, which 
 breaking out first at Avignon in France, spread 
 itself over all that Country, Switzerlafid, 
 Italy, Greece, Germany, Britain, Spain, and 
 Portugal: In all these Countries, more or 
 less, according as they were more or less 
 disposed to receive it. Thus far that learn- 
 ed Physician ; who, through the whole Ac- 
 count, seems to insinuate, that all these 
 Maladies and Distempers were principally 
 owing to these Appearances in the Hea- 
 vens, as their immediate Causes. Lastly, 
 This Doctrine hath received no small Con- 
 firmation, by the learned Dr. Mead's excel- 
 lent Essay, De infiuxu Solis et LuncB, who 
 begins his Book with this Assertion, That 
 all the Ancients did believe, that the rise 
 and progress of some Distempers did de- 
 pend upon the Influence of the Moon : 
 And others (says he) they have affirmed 
 to be entirely owing to the Influences of 
 the Stars: And the earliest Accounts we 
 have of Epidemical Diseases, talk largely 
 of the Motions and Influences of the hea- 
 venly Bodies ; therefore (as he goes on) 
 Hippocrates, in his Epistle to his Son Thes- 
 salus, advises him to apply himself principally 
 to the Study of Arithmetic and Geometry ; 
 because in Distempers much depends upon 
 the rising and setting of the heavenly Bodies.
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 The Truth of which Position of Hippocrates, 
 this learned Gentleman doth largely confirm 
 in the progress of his Book, by many excel- 
 lent Reasons, founded upon clear Observation 
 and Experience. 
 
 (2.) The Second general Cause is, nox- 
 ious Exhalations from the Earth, which may 
 proceed from various Causes, such as are in 
 some particular Places ; stinking Marshes, 
 or standing Waters ; the Smells of Sinks, 
 or common Sewers ; the Stink of dead Bo- 
 dies unburied ; Earthquakes, or fiery Erup- 
 tions from the Body of the Earth. A re- 
 markable Instance of Diseases proceeding 
 from both these Causes, is that mentioned 
 by the learned Dr. Geo. JBaglivi, in his Ap- 
 pendix to his Practice of Physic ; which 
 was an Apoplexy, that in the Year 1694 
 and 1695, was almost Epidemical at Rome, 
 and all over Italy ; which he imputes first 
 and principally to the unusual Constitution 
 of the Weather. The Summer in 1693 was 
 extreme hot and scorching, which was fol- 
 lowed by nipping cold Weather in the be- 
 ginning of 1694 ; and, contrary to the Cus- 
 tom of Italy, with a rigid Frost, Snow, and 
 Ice. The Campania di Roma and Piiglia, 
 which are seldom subject to Snow, were then 
 covered with it to the height of a Cubit. The 
 Summer after that was much hotter than 
 the former; insomuch that for five Months 
 together there was no Rain. About the 
 beginning of October, it began to be wet 
 Weather ; and continued such, with a south- 
 erly Wind, to April 1695, to such a de- 
 gree, that so much Rain was not seen to 
 
 F
 
 06 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 fall at one time within the Memory of Man. 
 After fifteen Days of a continued Rain, 
 perhaps they had two Days clear Weather, 
 which were followed by heavier Rains than 
 what went before. The second Cause to 
 which he imputes it, was the malignant 
 Steams raised by so many Earthquakes as 
 Jtali/ had felt since the Year 1687, to the 
 Year 1695, in which he wrote. And Seneca, 
 Nat. Qucest. cap. 27. says, That such sub- 
 terraneous Vapours do cause Apoplexies. 
 One Ex|)ression more of his I cannot omit ; 
 which, though impertinent to the immediate 
 Design of this Quotation, yet shows the 
 Author's Thoughts not much different from 
 mine. ' Perhaps,' says he, ' some part of the 
 
 * Epidemical Illness was owing to the uni- 
 
 * versal Grief and domestic Care occasioned 
 ' by such calamitous Times.' All Europe be- 
 ing at the same time engaged in a sharp War, 
 the like of which has scarce been heard ever 
 since the Foundation of the Universe ivas laid; 
 so many Cities rased and burnt ; so many 
 Thousands of Men slain ; all Commerce dis- 
 turbed, and the Avenues of Peace blocked up, 
 that the strongest Hearts can scarce bear the 
 Thoughts of it. 
 
 That there ^ 7. Now it is SO highly probable, that 
 shall be a in the last Days there shall be a Concur- 
 Comurrenct ^.^^^^^ ^^ ^]j ^j^^^^ Causes. As to the supe- 
 
 the last ^'i^^ Causes, which are the heavenly In- 
 Days. fluences, by which we understand not only 
 
 the Operations of the Planets or fixed 
 Stars, but also all Appearances of Meteors, 
 Comets, &c. we have great Reasons to ex- 
 pect them. Thus the Prophet Isaiah, Chap.
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 67 
 
 .14. 4. tells us, that in the Day of the Lord's 
 Vengeance, in the Year of his Recompen- 
 ses, for the Controversy of Sion, v. 8. that 
 all the Host of Heaven shall* he dissolved^ ^pDJ * 
 rot.m(Tovroi,i say the LXXII, which I have ex- 
 plained before, to signify a decay or breaking 
 away of the Parts of any Body ; whereby per- 
 haps may be signified, that many other of 
 the heavenly Bodies shall suffer a Dissolu- 
 tion (perhaps by Fire) like our Earth. And 
 the Heaven shall he rolled together as a Scroll^ 
 and all their Host {iravltx. "Arpa, say the LXXII) 
 shall fall doivn as the Leaf falleth from the 
 Vine, and as a falling Fig from the Fig-tree. 
 Whereby possibly may be understood, that 
 those Bodies thus on fire, may be torn from 
 their proper Centres, and have an eccentric 
 indeterminate Motion, through the vast j3^ther 
 in which they move. The same Thing is fore- 
 told also by our Blessed Lord, Matthew 
 24. 29. Immediately after the Tribulation of 
 those Days shall the Suti he darkened, and the 
 Moon shall not give her light, and the Stars 
 shall fall from Heaven, and the Poivers of the 
 Heavens shall he shaken. Where, indeed, it 
 must be confessed, that these Appearances are 
 to be after the Afflictions of these Days of 
 which we are treating, i. e. as to its Fulness, 
 as I understand it; but that there shall be 
 some preludia or forerunning Appearances long 
 before, is not at all disagreeable to the Ana- 
 logy of Things ; and these possibly may be 
 what St. Luke, Chap. 21. v. 11. caWs fearful 
 Sights and great Signs in Heaven : And v. 25. 
 Signs ifi the Stars; when Mens Hearts shall 
 fail them for fear, and for looking after those 
 
 F 2
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 things that are coming upon the Earth, v. 2G, 
 And these may serve to scatter the many Ob- 
 jections that some Commentators have raised 
 to themselves, about the falling of the Stars, 
 who could not imagine whither they should 
 fall, understanding as if they were to fall 
 upon our Earth, which they could not re- 
 concile with their Philosophy, as knowing 
 some of the Planets, and most of the fixed 
 Stars, to be vastly larger than our Earth. 
 But why may they not be imagined to 
 swim, or fly to and fro, in that infinite 
 Abyss or Space in which they have hitherto 
 moved more regularly? Which may pos- 
 sibly be proved to be necessary upon some 
 natural Accounts, and also for wise Ends 
 and Reasons of Providence. And we know 
 that it is thought probable by some of our 
 modern Theorists, that when our Earth 
 shall be gradually prepared and disposed for 
 a Conflagration, one of those Stars or Co- 
 mets shall finish the Work, by flying through 
 its Vortex, and so setting it on fire : But 
 however that may be, this is generally be- 
 lieved, that there will be more frequent 
 Appearances of Comets and other fiery Bo- 
 dies at that time, than ever has been : 
 Which must needs have a mighty Influence 
 upon us, by those prodigious Degrees of 
 Heat which they must produce in our Air; 
 thereby destroying its Humidity, which is 
 the principal Instrument of Vegetation, and 
 which by consequence must produce in us 
 a great Variety of Distempers. And for 
 the inferior Causes, hot and dry Exhala- 
 tions from the Earth, they must certainly
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE, 69 
 
 be produced first by the afore-mentioned 
 Phenomenas, and also by the gradual Ap- 
 proaches of the central Fire in the Earth 
 to the Superficies, in order to dispose it for 
 a Conflagration, which is supposed by most 
 of the modern Writers upon that Subject ; 
 and which, by how much the nearer it ap- 
 proaches, though perhaps at a considerable 
 distance, must drive out a yet greater Quan- 
 tity of Vapours ; all w hich must partake 
 deeply of the Nature of the Element, which 
 by insinuating itself into the Pores of the 
 Earth, hath forced them upwards. 
 
 § 8. But even in this Desolation shall Who they 
 the Mercy of God interpose to preserve \^\^^^^th(,tsfmll 
 ^ •*! r 1 c' X 1 1 • 1 *i I ^'^ccpe this 
 
 laithiul (Servants, who having passed through e^h^ 
 
 the Cross, are dead to this animal Life, and 
 to the Pleasures of it, living in constant 
 Humility, Abstraction, and Mortification ; 
 not priding themselves in their own fancied 
 Perfections, whether of the Body or Mind, 
 but in deep Simplicity, sacrificing all that 
 they have or are, to that God that made 
 them, and who has the only Right to their 
 Love and Service. These, as being living 
 Members of the mystical Body of Christ, 
 and having by Faith triumphed over the 
 Spirit of this World, and the Corruptions 
 of Nature, shall be in a State of Security 
 an€l Peace. These, as true Denizens and 
 Inhabitants of the Spiritual Kingdom of 
 Mount Sion, though conversing visibly in Bo- 
 dies of Flesh, shall be really and truly in- 
 stated in all tlie Privileges and Immunities 
 of that State, and shall no longer be subject 
 to the Powers and evil Influences of this
 
 70 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 * Psalm 90, Astral World or Principle. * Thei/ shall dwell 
 under the Defence of the Most High, and shall 
 abide under the Shadow of the Almighty ; he 
 shall deliver them from the noisome Pestilence, he 
 shall defend them under his Wings and they shall 
 he safe under his Feathers, so that they shall not 
 be afraid for the Terror by Night, nor for the 
 Arrow that flieth by Hay, nor for the Pesti- 
 lence that walketh in Jjarkness, nor for the He- 
 struction that wasteth at Noon-day. A Thou- 
 sand shall fall at their side, and Ten Thousands 
 at their right-hand, but it shall not come nigh 
 them, only with their Eyes they shall behold and 
 see the Reivard of the Wicked, but as for 
 themselves there shall no Evil befall them, 
 neither shall any Plague come nigh their Hwel- 
 lings, for the Lord has set his Love upon them, 
 therefore ivill he deliver them, he tvill satisfy 
 them with long Life, a?id show them his Sal- 
 vation ; i. e. They shall survive the Afflic- 
 tions of those Days, and come forth trium- 
 phantly in the Glories and Powers of the 
 New World. / have ivaited for thy Salva- 
 tion, O God, Genesis 49. ] 8. Behold the Lord 
 has proclaimed unto the End of the World, 
 say ye to the Haughter of Sion, Behold thy Sal- 
 vation Cometh, behold his Reward is with him, 
 and his Work before him, Isaiah 62. 11. Rejoice 
 greatly, O Haughter of Sion ; Shout, O Daugh- 
 ter of Jerusalem: Behold thy King comet h unto 
 thee, he is Just and having Salvation, SfC. 
 Zech. 9. 9. And as the Mercies of God are 
 over all his Works, and his Judgments are 
 sent, not for the Destruction but Reformation 
 of Mankind, so shall it be manifested towards 
 all those who are in the Beginnings of the
 
 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 New Birth, though with much Weakness 
 and Infirmity. He will not quench the 
 smoking- Flax, nor break the bruised 
 Reed ; and though they may suffer with 
 the World, yet they shall not be condem- 
 ned with the World ; their Sufferings shall 
 only serve to purify them. And as for 
 others, who are yet in the Spirit of this 
 World, and Strangers to the Life of God ; 
 even they also, as they shall be found obe- 
 dient to the Calls and Chastisements of the 
 Divine Mercy, shall be admitted into this 
 State of Blessed Security, whose Gates 
 stand open Day and Night to receive all 
 those that are willing to enter in through 
 the Path and Way of the Cross. I shall 
 conclude this Part, with that Rabbinical 
 Observation in Sepher Abkath Rokel, Part I. 
 Lib. i. upon the Second Sign, which is 
 the Pestilence. ' Here (says he) you will 
 ' ask, How shall the Righteous be preser- 
 * ved in this terrible Pestilence ? He an- 
 swers, That ' God shall provide them a 
 ' Remedy against this Heat, which was 
 ' foretold by the Prophet, Malac. 4. 2. But 
 ' to you that fear my Name, shall the Sun of 
 ' Riohteousness arise with Healing i7i his 
 ' Wings' Which Place plainly refers to the 
 last Times : (see the whole Chapter) : And 
 the Rising of the Sun of Righteousness 
 with Healing in his Wings, doth seem to 
 express the sublime state of those, who 
 being regenerated in the Spirit of Jesiis 
 Christ, the true Son of Righteousness, are 
 secure and safe from all evil Influences of
 
 72 OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 the Astral World, represented by the Sun, 
 the great Luminary of our Vortex, and 
 the Parent and Fountain of Natural Heat. 
 O may that Sun of Righteousness be our 
 Protection and Defence in that evil Day, 
 that we may be thought worthy to escape it.
 
 PART III. 
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 Amos 4. 7. / have ivithholden the Rain from 
 you, when there is yet three 3Ionths to the 
 Harvest, and I caused it to rain upon one City, 
 and caused it not to rain upon another City : 
 One piece was rained upon, and the piece where- 
 upon it rained not withered. 
 
 V. 9. I have smitten you ivith Blastijig a7id Mil- * Began to 
 dew : when iiour Gardens, and Vineiiards, and 1^^ ' ^' ^^^ 
 
 ri. ^ , A,. V 7* Blossoms, or 
 
 your Tig-trees, and your (Jtive-trees increased,^ Fruit more 
 the Palmer-worm devoured them. properly. 
 
 § 1. ^ I ^HE next Instance of Judgment, The Famine 
 JL which God will bring upon the ^^^^^ *^ '^^ 
 impenitent World in the latter Days, will ^""//^Tsf 
 be the Famine ; which (according to our of the Flesh. 
 Blessed Lord's Prediction, Matthew 24. 7. 
 Mark 13. 8.) shall be one of the great 
 Afflictions of those Days, and which seems 
 as if it were peculiarly intended to punish 
 the last great Branch of Sin, the Lust of the 
 Flesh: Which is such a degree of brutish 
 Degeneracy, as to set a Man almost upon 
 the Level with the Beasts that perish ; and 
 those Persons who are in Captivity to this 
 Sin, are not only Strangers to the Life and 
 Light of God, but are so miserably blinded, 
 as not to be able to receive the dim Light 
 of Reason itself, which (if they would
 
 74 OF THE FA3IINE. 
 
 but open their Eyes) would reprove and 
 condemn those beastly and luxurious Plea- 
 sures, which they so inconsiderately indulge 
 themselves in. These are they that put far 
 aivay to the evil Day^ and cause the Seat of 
 Violence to come near ; They lie upon JBeds of 
 Ivory, and stretch themselves upon Couches, and 
 eat the Lambs out of the Flock, and the Calves 
 out of the midst of the Stall ; they chaunt to the 
 sound of the Viol, and invent to themselves In- 
 struments of Music ; They drink Wine out of 
 Boivls, and anoint themselves ivith the chief 
 Ointments, Amos the 6th, ?;. 34, 56. They rise 
 up early in the Morning that they mayfolloio 
 strong Drink, and continue until Night, till 
 Wine inflame them ; and the Harp, and the Viol, 
 and the Pipe, and Wine aix in their Feasts, 
 Isaiah 5. 11,12. Hut they regard viot the Works 
 of the Lord, nor the Operation of his Hands : 
 Nay, though the Hand of God be lifted up over 
 them they ivill not see, Isaiah 26. 1 1 . But in 
 their impetuous Pursuit of new Pleasures and 
 fresh Enjoyments, they despise and overlook 
 all manner of Obligations, whether of Civility 
 or Religion ; and rather than want what they 
 desire, they will stick at no manner of Vio- 
 lence or Injustice. They will even remove 
 Land-marks, and violently drive away the Flocks 
 of the Poor, and feed thereof; They drive away 
 the Ass of the Fatherless, and take the Widow's 
 Ox for a Pledge ; They turn the Needy out 
 of the way, and make the Poor of the Earth 
 hide themselves together ; They cause the Naked 
 to lodge ivithout Clothing, that they have 7io 
 Covering in the cold ; They pluck the Fatherless 
 from the Ureas t, and take a Pledge of the Poor;
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 75 
 
 They cause him to go Naked, and take away the 
 Sheaf from the Hungry, who though they make 
 Oil within their Walls, and tread their Wine- 
 presses, yet are forced to siiffer Thirst, Job 24. 
 They ivill not give Water to the Weary to drink, 
 and they ivithhold J3read from the Hungry ; 
 They send the Widoivs away empty, and break 
 the Arms of the Fatherless. Whilst themselves 
 are mighty and possess the Earth, Job 2*2. Their 
 Seed is established in their sight, and their Houses 
 aj'e safe from fear, neither is the Mod of God 
 upon them ; They send forth their little Ones like 
 a Flock, and their Children dance; They take the 
 Timbrel and Harp, and rejoice at the sound of 
 the Organ, Job 21. They are not in Troidile 
 like other Folks, neither are they plagued like 
 other Men; their Eyes stand out with fatness, 
 and they have more than Heart can wish ; These 
 are they that prosper in the World, and these 
 have Riches in abundance. Psalm 73. 
 
 "§ 2. These seem to me to be the Persons This 
 pointed at by the Holy Spirit, as eminently ^.'''^"'^^''/ 
 and peculiarly comprehended under this ^^^^^ JarUmlarly 
 Branch of Sin, The Lust of the Flesh. Now considered. 
 this Sin may be considered divers ways ; 
 I. In General ; as it consists in a perfect 
 Opposition to that Mortification and Ab- 
 stinence, so earnestly recommended both 
 by the Examples and Precepts of our Bles- 
 sed Lord and all his faithful Followers, and 
 so it expresses a fixed Resolution, or rather 
 a blind Impetus or Inclination to all sorts of 
 Pleasure, though never so brutish, or op- 
 posite to the Purity and Dignity of Human 
 Nature, or the Will of God : And at the 
 same time (which is necessarily implied)
 
 76 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 a fixed Aversion to all sorts of Crosses and 
 Sufferings, though never so Salutary, or 
 for never so good Reasons, yea, though 
 it were to gain an infinity of Happiness in 
 Reversion; but, like the Beasts that perish, 
 the Man of Pleasure is aflfected with no- 
 thing but what can for the present gratify 
 the furious Appetites of the Animal Life, 
 to which he is intimately wedded ; that 
 being the only Principle that is awakened 
 in him, and in which he may be properly 
 said to be swallowed up, II. It may be 
 considered in its several Branches, as it 
 may be diversified in the Gratification of 
 each particular Sense ; such are the grati- 
 fying the Palate with delicious and luxu- 
 rious Meats and Drinks, solely for the sake 
 of Pleasure; the Ear with Jovial Songs or 
 Dissolute Tunes, which can have no other 
 Effect, than to stir up and soothe the Ani- 
 mal Inclinations, &c. And so of others, 
 even those which are particularly and em- 
 phatically called The Lusts of the Flesh. III. 
 It may be also considered in its Efiects and 
 Consequences ; such as are the strengthen- 
 ing our Self-love, the great Root and 
 Fountain of Iniquity in us, and the De- 
 struction of Christian Charity ; inasmuch 
 as this prompts a Man to all manner of 
 Violence, in order to obtain whatsoever 
 his Soul lusteth after; whether his Neigh- 
 bours Wife, Goods or Estate, if he can but 
 do it securely from the Judgment of this 
 World ; and at the same time hardens his 
 Heart against the Afflictions of his _ needy 
 Brother, whom he neglects and despises,
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 77 
 
 lest it should disturb his Rest, or sour liis 
 Enjoyments; or because he is sure he shall 
 get nothing by him. Under this Head 
 may also be comprehended that Sin of 
 theirs, who being Strangers to tlie Life of 
 Faith, believe that Man can live no other 
 way than by Bread alone, notwithstanding 
 what the Scriptures have told us, Dent. 8. 3. 
 JSIatthew 4. 4. Evke 4. 4. that Man doth not 
 live hy Bread alone, but by every JVord that 
 proceedeth out of the 31outh of God ; i. e. God 
 can, notwithstanding the want of all external 
 visible Means of Subsistence, supernaturally 
 provide for us, either by procuring for 
 us necessary Food, or supporting us with- 
 out ; of both which we have frequent In- 
 stances in the Holy Scriptures : Of this 
 sort were the Israelites in the Wilderness, 
 who murmured against God, for having 
 brought them into the Wilderness, where 
 he was not able to support them, Exodus 16. 
 As also the unbelieving Lord, 2 Kings 7. 
 And those Gentiles of whom our Saviour 
 speaks, 31atthew 6. who were perpetually 
 carking and caring for their Subsistence in 
 this Life, without one Grain of Faith, to 
 believe that God knew their Wants and 
 Necessities, and would infallibly supply 
 them, if they had but Faith to believe in 
 him. But these latter seem not to be so 
 deeply immersed in the East of the Flesh as 
 the other. 
 
 § 3. This seems to be the Portraiture That this 
 of the grand Branch of Sin, which is at '^'" "J!^^ 
 this Day so very prevailing amongst all ^„^^ /jj^ 
 Sorts and Degrees of Men, in some In- Punishment.
 
 78 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 stance or other ; insomuch that Lewdness 
 and Debauchery triumph in the World, in 
 spite of all Opposition ; Charity is waxed 
 cold, yea frozen and dead ; and vast Mul- 
 titudes are there in the World, whose God 
 Philip. 3. is their Belly, and who glory in their Shame ; 
 and who (in the most literal Sense) mind 
 nothing but earthly Things. And this is 
 that 'A-x^^tioriq, (that useless and unprofitable 
 Temper, when Men live only to devour 
 the good Things of the World, without 
 doing any Good to themselves or their 
 Neighbours) ; which, as good Old Tobit 
 tells his Son, Tohit the 4th and 13th, is the 
 Mother of Famine : Which seems indeed to 
 be the first Punishment for that Sin, viz. 
 That God should punish the Abuse of his 
 good Creatures, by taking them from us. 
 And this is the Punishment which in divers 
 Places of Scriptures he has denounced 
 against this Sin. Thus God, by the Pro- 
 phet Hosea, Chapter 2. threatens the Jewish 
 Nation for their Idolatries and Forgetfulness 
 of him, who had given them Plenty and 
 Increase of all good Things. Let her, says 
 he, Verse 2. put aivay her Whoredoms out of 
 her sight, and her Adulteries from between her 
 Ereasts, lest I strip her naked, and set her as in 
 the Day that she tvas born, and make her as a 
 Wilderness, and set her like a dry Land, and slay 
 her with Thirst. V. 3. For she said, I iv ill go 
 after my Lovers, that give me my Eread and my 
 Water, my Wool and my Flax, my Oil and my 
 Drink. V. 5. For she did 9iot know that I 
 gave her Corn, and Wine, and Oil, and midtiplied 
 her Silver and Gold. V. 8. Therefore I ivill
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 79 
 
 return and take away my Corn in the time thereof, 
 and my Wine in the season thereof. V. 9. And 
 I will destroy her Vines and her Fig-trees, 
 whereof she hath said. These are my Rewards, 
 that my Lovers have given me ; and 1 will make 
 them a Forest, and the Eeasts of the Field shall 
 eat them. The same Judgment is threatened, 
 Chap. 4. for their want of Mercy and Truth. 
 The Lord hath a Controversy ivith the Itihabi- 
 tants of the Land, because there is no Truth, 
 nor Mercy, nor Knowledge of God in the Laud, 
 V. 1. JBy swearing, and lying, and killing, and 
 stealing, and committing Adultery, they break 
 out, and Stood toucheth JBlood, v, 3. Therefore 
 shall the Land mourn, and every one that divell- 
 eth therein shall languish, with the Seasts of 
 the Field, and ivith the Fowls of Heaven, yea 
 the Fishes of the Sea also shall be taken aivay. 
 Intimating the Destruction of those Creatures, 
 which are the common Food of Mankind ; 
 either for want of the Fruits of the Earth to 
 nourish them, or that those Fruits if they do 
 grow, shall be so cursed as to lose their 
 nutritive Quality ; which seems to be hint- 
 ed, V. 10. For they shall eat, and not have 
 enough. 
 
 So also the Prophet Amos, in Chapter 4, 
 5, 6. reproves the Luxury and Uncharitable- 
 ness of his Nation. Hear this Word, ye that 
 oppress the Poor, which crush the Needy, Chap. 
 4. V. 1. / have given you cleanness of Teeth 
 in all your Cities, and ivant of JBread in all 
 your Places ; yet have ye not returned unto me, 
 saith the Lord, v. 6. And I have also ivith- 
 holden the Rain from you, v. 7. So two or three 
 Cities wandered to one City to drink Water, but
 
 80 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 they were not satisfied, v. 8. I have smitten you 
 
 with Blasting and 31ildew, SfC. So Chap 5. 
 
 V. W. Forasmuch as your treading is upon the 
 
 Poor, and ye take from him Eurdens of Wheat ; 
 
 ye have built Houses of hewn Stone, but ye shall 
 
 not dwell in them: Ye have pla?ited jjleasant 
 
 Vineyards, but ye shall ?iot drink Wine of them. 
 
 Foi I know your manifold Transgressions, and 
 
 your mighty Sins: They cifflict the Just, they 
 
 take a Eribe, they turn aside the Poor in the 
 
 Gate for their Might, v. 12. Therefore the Lord 
 
 God of Hosts, the Lord saith thus. Wailing shall 
 
 be in all Streets, and they shall say in all the 
 
 Highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the 
 
 Husbandman to mournino' : And such as are 
 
 skilful of Lamentation to ivailing, v. 1 6. And 
 
 in all Vineyards shall be ivailing ; for I will pass 
 
 through thee, saith the Lord, v. 17. 
 
 The Prophet Micah likewise threatens the 
 same Sins with the same Punishment, Chap. 6. 
 V. 10. Are there yet the Treasures of Wicked- 
 ness in (he House of the Wicked, and the scant 
 Measure that is abominable ? Shall I count them 
 pure ivith the ivicked Ealances, and ivith the 
 Eag of deceitful Weights ? For the rich Men 
 thereof are fdl of Violence, and the hihabitants 
 thereof have spoken Lies, and their Tongue is 
 deceitful hi their Mouth. Therefore also will 1 
 make thee sick in smitinfr thee, in makino- thee 
 desolate because of thy Sins. Thou shall eat, 
 but not be satisfied ; thou shalt sow, but thou 
 shall not reajj ; thou shalt tread the Olives, but 
 thou shalt not anoint thee with Oil, and sweet 
 Wine, but slialt not drink Wine. And accord- 
 ingly* whensoever this Branch of Sin shall be 
 come to its complete State or perfect Ful-
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 81 
 
 ness, in any Place, Country, or Nation, 
 then also may we expect to see this Plague 
 more common, xara ^o^r^q, i. e. in divers Places, 
 as it is expressed, Matthew 24. 7. before 
 it become strictly Universal, which must 
 be afterwards. We need not, T think, look 
 far for Arguments to prove the future In- 
 crease of this Sin, which is at this Day so 
 very rife in the World ; and is so far from 
 being checked by those other Evils, of War 
 and Poverty, under which we groan, that 
 we have just Reason to fear, that it is grow- 
 ing to its Perfection, and will proportionably 
 bring upon us this fearful Scourge before we 
 are aware. 
 
 § 4. Now that there shall be Famines That there 
 thus General and Universal, seems plainly * ''^"/^ 
 intimated in divers Places of Holy Scrip- universal 
 tures ; besides those other Arguments (\r3.wn Famines. 
 from the Analogy and Proportion that God 
 observes in the Distribution of his Ven- 
 geance, according to the Degree and 
 Quality of the Sin; and those others that 
 may be drawn from the Nature and Ne- 
 cessity of the Causes that shall produce 
 them. 
 
 I. The First Proof that I shall insist on 
 from Scripture (besides what I have just 
 touched upon in the beginning, from the 
 Words of our Blessed Lord, Matthew 24. 7. 
 Mark 13. 8.) shall be from Isaiah 24. where 
 the Holy Prophet, in lofty and sublime 
 Expressions, foretels and describes the 
 Punishments that God would bring upon 
 the Earth in the latter Days, for the Ful- 
 ness of their Iniquities. That this Pro- 
 
 G
 
 82 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 phecy belongs to the whole Earth in gene- 
 ral, and not to Judea in particular, seems 
 very plain; because. Chapter 22. the Pro- 
 phet had been very particular in his Denun- 
 ciations against Jerusalem and Judea; as also, 
 Chapter 23. against Tyrus ; and it is not 
 likely that the Prophet should so soon return 
 again to the Jews^ of whom he had been 
 lately speaking so particularly, especially 
 considering withal, the Prophecy runs in 
 the most general Terms, without any par- 
 ticular Marks or Characters, that may war- 
 rant so particular an Application. And 
 therefore says he, v. 5. The Earth is defiled, 
 nQ)T^ * or profaned (as the Word * rather signi- 
 fies ; which is by the LXXII translated 
 ^voiJi-na-s) under its Inhabitants ; A»a tou? ivoixxvloig 
 say the LXXII ; signifying, as if Nature 
 were out of Course, and the Earth were 
 barren or irregular in her Productions and 
 Operations, because of the Iniquities of 
 those that inhabited it: Because they have 
 transgressed the Law (of God,) changed the 
 (or his) Ordinance, and broken the everlasting 
 Covenant; which is the Law or Covenant 
 of Love, which may be in the most pro- 
 per Sense styled Everlasting ; this being, as 
 our Blessed Saviour witnesseth, Mattheiv 22. 
 38. not only the great but the first Com- 
 mandment, being indeed coeval with God 
 himself, whose Nature and Essence is Love, 
 1 Joh. 4. 8. From whence also it follows, 
 that it must be Everlasting, a parte post, 
 according to which we are told, 1 Cor. 13. 8. 
 That Charity never faileth. Because therefore 
 of the Transgressions of this Everlasting
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 83 
 
 Covenant (or Law, as the Word (rnn^) 
 is sometimes rendered by the LXXII) of 
 Love, which is in a more peculiar manner 
 the Character of this Branch of Sin, as we 
 have before observed. The Curse hath (or, 
 according to the Prophetic Idiom, shall) 
 devour the Ground, mid they that dtvell therein 
 are desolate. Thence he proceeds to a more 
 particular Account of the Causes and Effects 
 of a Famine, which is to be at that time. 
 V. 7. The new Wine languisheth, the Vine 
 mourneth, and all the merry-hearted sigh ; The 
 mirth of Tahrets ceaseth, the noise of them that 
 rejoice endeth, the joy of the Harp ceaseth ; 
 They shall not drink Wine with a Song, strong 
 Drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 
 There is a citing for Wine in the Streets, all 
 joy is darkened, the mirth of the Land is gone^ 
 Sfc. All expressing a State of great Affliction, 
 or Trouble, to be brought upon the World 
 in the last Days, to punish their enormous 
 Deviations from the Love of God, and 
 which shall be effected by some great Dis- 
 orders in inferior Nature ; so that the Earth 
 shall not bring forth her Fruits, and Mankind 
 shall be in want of the common Necessaries 
 of human Life, expressed by Bread and 
 Wine. 
 
 II. The next Place that I shall mention, 
 shall be that Prophetical Description of a 
 dreadful Famine in the Prophecy of Joel, 
 Chap. \. which, though in its ultimate and 
 complete Sense it refers to the Times of the 
 Great Antichrist, as I shall show more at 
 large upon that Head, yet I think it may 
 not improperly be touched upon in this 
 
 G 2
 
 84 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 Place; because the Prophet does plainly 
 point out the natural Causes of that Plague ; 
 which, though ultimately referring to the 
 Grand Divisions of the Antichristian Army, 
 yet in its Beginnings or first Principles may 
 be placed much nearer. He begins, there- 
 fore, Chap. 1. V. 4. with a Description of 
 the first and natural Causes of a Famine ; 
 such were the Palmer-worm ; the Locust 
 ^^l'^^? * (or Grasshopper, as the Word * may be 
 sometimes rendered) ; the Canker - Worm ; 
 and the Caterpillar ; all being generally 
 reputed very mischievous Creatures to green 
 Corn and other Fruits of the Earth ; and 
 these, he says, shall succeed one another 
 in such a manner, as that the latter shall 
 still destroy what the former left. Now 
 all these Creatures are generally produced 
 by excessive Drought and Heat, which 
 shall be the prevailing natural Cause, as 
 may be proved at large from many Ex- 
 pressions, not only in this Place, but many 
 - others ; of which more hereafter. Now 
 if this Prophecy be capable of a literal 
 Sense, not excluding the Interpretation 
 which I understand to be couched under 
 it, as referring to the Reign of Antichrist, 
 as I think it fairly may, then it will be 
 difficult to prove, that it has ever been ac- 
 complished ; the Historical Part of Scrip- 
 ture having made no mention of any such 
 Thing : And if it be not accomplished, to 
 what fitter Time can we assign it, than 
 that Great and Terrible Day of Vengeance, 
 to which the Prophet in this whole Pro- 
 phecy seems chiefly to have respect, and
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 85 
 
 of which we have been hitherto treating 
 so far as it relates to natural Evils? For 
 this we need look no further than that 
 solemn and pompous Preface, wherewith 
 he ushers it in, as a Matter or Subject of 
 the greatest Importance to all succeeding 
 Generations. V. 3. Tell ye your Children of 
 it, and let your Children tell their Childreny 
 and their Children the next Generation ; which 
 may be very fairly so interpreted, as not to be 
 limited to that, but to be still propagated 
 from one Generation to another, till the 
 very Times of its Completion should come. 
 From thence he proceeds, v. 5. as it were 
 to point out the sins that had particularly 
 deserved this heavy Judgment, and to warn 
 and awaken the Committers of them to 
 look about them, and prepare themselves 
 for the approaching Vengeance. ' Awake 
 
 * ye Drunkards and weep, and hoivl all ye 
 
 * drinkers of Wine, because of the new Wine ; 
 
 * for it is cut off from your Mouth. By 
 Drunkards and drinkers of Wine, are under- 
 stood all sorts of luxurious Persons, which 
 is frequent in Scripture, that being the 
 most scandalous, open, and visible Instance 
 of it ; and so, as the Learned Dr. Pocock 
 observes, Abarhenel has explained the Place. 
 Ye, says he, who are drunken with the Vanities 
 of the World, and the Delights of Meat and 
 Drink all the Day, and do 7iot regard the Work 
 of the Lord, awake from your Drunkenness, and 
 weep and howl for the Destruction of your 
 Land : For the Wine and Must being of the 
 delightful Things of the Products of the Earth, 
 tvhich ye did eat and drink, are now cut off
 
 86 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 from your Mouth. An Expression that seems 
 to intimate the sudden and unexpected coming 
 of this Judgment ; as if the Fruits were 
 all destroyed, just in the midst of a great 
 Plenty, when they were all ripe, and the 
 People preparing to enjoy them, and as 
 it were ready to taste them. Which brings 
 to my Mind those Words of the Apochry- 
 phal Author of Esdras, referring to this 
 time, used Part 1. 2 Esdras 16. 21. Behold 
 Victuals shall he so good cheap upon Earthy 
 that they shall think themselves in good Case., 
 and even then shall Evils grow upon them^ 
 Sword, Famine, and great Confusion. From 
 hence the Prophet proceeds, in the following 
 Verses of this Chapter, to give a more 
 particular Account of the Nature and 
 Causes of this great Evil ; of which we 
 shall make a more particular Use when we 
 come to the next Head. There are, be- 
 sides these, several other Places up and 
 down in the Holy Scriptures, especially 
 the Book of Psalms, and the Prophets, that 
 may not unfairly be interpreted of this 
 Time ; but because they seem to have a 
 further Intent and Meaning in the Times 
 of Antichrist, we shall omit them for the 
 present, and consider them more fully under 
 that Head ; and proceed to inquire what 
 shall be the natural Causes of this heavy 
 Judgment. 
 The Causes ^5 And these are probably presumed 
 fJ^l^J^'^'^'to he the same with the former, viz. The 
 Heat. 6vil Influences of the Heavenly Bodies, 
 
 operating particularly by the Means of ex- 
 cessive Heat. What I have said in the fore-
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 87 
 
 going; Part, concernino' the Natures and Ope- 
 rations of those Bodies, may suffice for this 
 Place: And 1 shall proceed to point out the 
 Reasons that move me to attribute these 
 Effects to the same Cause. And these are. 
 First and chiefly, the Expressions which the 
 Holy Scriptures make use of upon these 
 Occasions. 2r%, That according to the com- 
 mon Philosophy, all the other usual Causes 
 of Famines are reducible to the afore-men- 
 tioned, and may not improperly be said to be 
 the Effects of them. 
 
 I. In that particular Place of Isaiah's This proved 
 Prophecy, Chap. 24. which I have before {^^^^ '^^^^^■ 
 quoted, as relating to this heavy Judgment, 
 there are several Expressions up and down 
 that Chapter, which being intended to 
 describe the Nature and Effects of this 
 Evil, do plainly point out and discover its 
 Causes also. Of which sort are Verses the 
 6th and 7th. ^ Therefore hath the Curse de- 
 voured the Earth, and they that dwell therein 
 are desolate; therefore the Inhabitants of the 
 Earth are burned, (y^'^) and there are few Men 
 left : Which Burning, or Heat, no doubt is the 
 Cause also of those other Evils mentioned 
 in the following Verse ; The new Wine mourn- 
 eth, the Vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted 
 do sigh, SfC. and by consequence of that 
 great Want or sore Famine so pathetically 
 described in the following Verses. So also 
 in the Prophecy of Joel, Chap. 1. there are 
 plain Indications of the same Thing : The 
 Field is wasted, the Land mourneth, the Corn 
 is wasted, the ?iew Wine is dried up, the Oil 
 languisheth, v. 10. Again, The Vine is dried
 
 88 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 up, Sfc. V. 12. And plainer yet, v. 19 and 
 20. O Lord, to thee will I cry, for the Fire 
 hath destroyed the Pastures of the Wilderness, 
 and the Flame hath burnt all the Trees of the 
 Field : The Beasts of the Field cry also unto 
 thee, for the Rivers of Water are dried up, and 
 the Fire hath devoured the Pastures of the Wil- 
 derness. All which Expressions seem plainly 
 to show, that this heavy Judgment shall be 
 effected particularly by excessive and preter- 
 natural Heats, occasioned either by a more 
 frequent appearance and descent of Meteors ; 
 or from a more vigorous and intense Fer- 
 mentation, in those Bodies which are the 
 ordinary Instruments of Light and Heat to 
 us ; or else from some Disorders in the 
 Body of the Earth, occasioned by Eruptions 
 of its central Fire ; or at least by some 
 nearer approaches of it to its Superficies, 
 which about this time may be expected, as 
 we observed before; or else ^perhaps from 
 the Concurrence of both these Causes to- 
 gether. 
 Blights and H. The Second Reason is. That all the 
 Mildews, other usual Causes of Famines are reduci- 
 £fc. imputed i^\q ^^ ^[jg afore- mentioned. These are 
 ^ ^" ' Blights, Mildews, and devouring Insects, 
 viz. The Palmer- Worm, Grasshopper, Cater- 
 pillar, &c. mentioned in the afore-quoted 
 Place of Joel; all which are certainly oc- 
 casioned and produced by Heat. As for 
 Blights, &c. not to mention the Names 
 used to express them by both Greeks and 
 Latins (such are Uredo, KauO/x-o?, &c.) Every 
 Season furnishes us with sensible Demon- 
 strations of their hot and burning Quali-
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 89 
 
 ties ; such as may be discerned by the Look, 
 Touch, and Smell of Fruits, Leaves, or Herbs, 
 that have been touched by them : What 
 may be the primary and original Cause of 
 these Meteors, (for so 1 am forced to call 
 them, not knowing to what Class of Na- 
 ture to reduce them,) or wherein those 
 burning Qualities do consist, is hard to say; 
 but it is very probable, that they are no- 
 thing else but condensed Vapours, deeply 
 impregnated with hot and dry Effluviums, 
 proceeding from some of the Heavenly 
 Bodies. Which may probably be further 
 illustrated (not to say confirmed) by con- 
 sidering the Seasons in which they happen, 
 and which of the Heavenly Bodies are pre- 
 dominant in that Season. Now there were 
 some critical Seasons observed by the An- 
 cients, in which Blights, &c. were more 
 common and ordinary : Such were parti- 
 cularly the Calends of May, on the VHth 
 of which, i. e. April the 25th New Stile, 
 the Romans observed a Festival, called Robi- 
 galia, instituted to implore the Blessing of 
 their God Rohigus (whom they supposed to 
 preside over the Fruits of the Earth) that 
 their Corn might be preserved from Blights. 
 See Pliny 18. 29. From whence, in after- 
 times, the Christians took an Occasion of 
 instituting Solemn Fasts and Processions, 
 called to this Day Rogatioti-Week ; by the 
 Old Britains, Gang-Week; in Latin, Amhar- 
 valia; because then the Bishop or Presby- 
 ter, with the People, did use to walk to 
 and fro in the Fields, with the Host or 
 consecrated Elements, and beg a Blessing
 
 90 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 upon the Fruits of the Earth. At that 
 time, according to the Computation then 
 in use, the Sun was between 10 and 14 
 Degrees of Taurus «. And the true Cause 
 of keeping that Festival upon that parti- 
 cular Time, Rosinus (Lib. 4. Cap. 7.) says 
 was this : That 19 Degrees after the Venial 
 Equinox, for four Days together, accord- 
 ing to the Observation of divers Nations, 
 a hot, dry, and angry Constellation, called 
 Canis Major, or the Great Dog, was used 
 to set (achronically I suppose he means, 
 as it appears by rectifying the Globe to 
 the Latitude of Rome). But Goad, in his 
 Astrometeorol. Sana, p. 92. says. It was not 
 only upon that Account, but because about 
 that time there did Arise and Set with the 
 Sun an illustrious Company of Stars ; mean- 
 ing the Hyades and Pleiades, upon the Neck 
 and Head of Taurus: Which Stars, as in- 
 deed the whole Asterism of Taurus, he says 
 (upon Ptolornys Authority) have both Qua- 
 lities, hot and cold, in them. And though 
 they (especially the former) have been dis- 
 tinguished by their watery Qualities, from 
 whence they have their Denomination, 
 u-nro t5 ufii/, yet he says, page 90. That those 
 Parts of Taurus about the Pleiades, occa- 
 sion Earthquakes, Clouds, and Wind ; those 
 about the Hyades are of a fiery Nature, and 
 produce Thunder and Lightning, for which 
 he alleges many Reasons ; (see the place.) 
 Now every one knows, that those Meteors 
 are produced by great Quantities of Nitro- 
 sulphurious Particles, which must be either 
 exhaled from the Body of the Earth,
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 91 
 
 by the excessive Heat of these Bodies; or 
 emitted immediately from these Bodies 
 themselves ; which may not improbably 
 descend in a watery Vehicle. Be it which 
 way it will, it seems to amount to some 
 Proof, that the grand instrumental Cause 
 of these Appearances is excessive Heat : 
 And how much more do we think those 
 Effects should be produced; if, besides 
 these common and ordinary Causes, there 
 should be at the same time a concurrence 
 of some accidental Disorders in those Bodies, 
 which should render their natural Quali- 
 ties more intense and piercing. I would 
 not here be supposed to think, that Blights, 
 Mildews, &c. are so appropriated to this 
 Season, which I have been speaking of, 
 as not to fall also at other times : But 
 this Season is particularly remarkable, be- 
 cause of the Condition of the Corn and 
 other Fruits ; as being, if not in Blossom, 
 yet of so tender a consistency, as to be 
 affected by any the least touch of malign 
 Influences. But to return, this same thing 
 seems to be hinted by the Apocryphal 
 Author of the 2d Book of Esdras, Chapter 
 15. where speaking, v. 5. of the last sore 
 Plagues, the Sword, Famine, Death, and 
 Destruction, (or Pestilence,) which God would 
 bring upon the World ; when (v. 6.) Wick- 
 edness shall have exceedingly polluted the ivhole 
 Earthy and the Measure of their Iniquities 
 shall be filled up. He says (v. 12.) Egypt 
 (i. e. Mystical Egypt, or the whole Earth, this 
 World in which God's Children are kept in 
 Bondage or Slavery, compare v. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
 
 92 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 11, 12, 13, 14.) shall mount, and the Founda- 
 tion of it shall be smitten with the Plague and 
 Punishment thai God shall bring upon it. V. 13. 
 They that till the Ground shall mourn, for their 
 Seeds shall fail, through the Elasting and Hail, 
 and tvith a fearful Constellation. 
 Thatdevour- ju ^g fo,, t^g Second Sort of Causes, 
 ^"f^,"J^J*^ devouring Insects, that they are produced 
 by Heat. by Heat, we have a strong Presumption 
 from an Observation common amongst us, 
 that they abound most in hot and dry Sea- 
 sons ; besides what Eochartus has observed, 
 Zuograph. Sancta, Lib. 4. Cap. 6. and Cap. 4. 
 in both which Places he expressly asserts, 
 That Drought is the Cause of Locusts and 
 other devouring Insects. But as to the pre- 
 cise manner of their Production, whether it be 
 equivocal, i. e. by some latent Seeds in 
 the Superficies of the Earth, which are im- 
 pregnated by the Sun, or other astral In- 
 fluences ; or univocally, by the common con- 
 currence of Male and Female, is hard to 
 determine. However, the former Opinion 
 seems more probable, because it is difficult 
 to conceive how the Heat can be any way 
 instrumental in the latter way ; much less how 
 it can be said to be a Cause, as Eochart and 
 others have asserted upon the Authority of 
 the Ancients. 
 A Recapitu- ^ Q, WiTH this threefold Evil, viz. Sword, 
 a ton of Pestilence, and Famine, will God chastise 
 Evils. ^be iVpostate Antichristian World in the 
 
 latter Days, 2 Esdras 15. 14. Woe to the 
 World and them that dwell therein, a Fire is 
 kindled and shall not be put out, till it consume 
 the Foundations of the Earth. Eehold Famine,
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 93 
 
 mid Plague, and Tribulation, and Anguish are 
 sent as Scourges for amendment, but for all this 
 they shall oiot turn from their Wickedness. One 
 People shall stand up against another with Sivords 
 in their Hands : There shall be Sedition amongst 
 Men, and invading one another; they shall not 
 regard their Kings, nor their Princes, and the 
 Course of their Actions shall stand in their Power. 
 A Man shall desire to go into a Oity, and shall 
 not be able; for because of their Pride the 
 Cities shall be troubled, the Houses shall be de- 
 stroyed, and Men shall be afraid : A Man shall 
 have no pity upon his Neighbour, but shall de- 
 stroy their Houses with the Sword, and spoil 
 their Goods, because of the lack of Eread, and 
 for great Tribulation. The Cities shall be broken 
 down, and the People shall perish with the Sword 
 in the Field. They that be in the 3Iountains 
 shall die of Hunger, and eat their own Flesh, 
 and drink their own Elood, for very hunger of 
 Eread, and thirst of Water. The Dead shall 
 be cast out as Dung, and there shall be no 3Ian 
 to comfort them ; for the Earth shall be tvasted, 
 and the Cities shall be cast down. There shall 
 he no Man left to till the Earth and to sow it. 
 The Trees shall give Fruit, and who shall ga- 
 ther them ? The Grapes shall ripen, and ivho shall 
 tread them ? For all places shall be desolate of 
 Men ; so that one Man shall desire to see another, 
 and to hear his Voice. For of a City there 
 shall be ten left, and two of a Field, which shall 
 hide themselves in the thick Groves, and in the 
 Clefts of the Rocks. As in an Orchard of Olives, 
 upon every Tree there are left three or four 
 Olives, or as when a Vineyard is gathered, there 
 are left some Clusters of them that diligently
 
 94 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 seek through the Vineyard; even so in those 
 Days there shall be three or four left by them 
 that search their Houses ivith the Sword. The 
 Virgins shall mourn, having no Eridegroom; 
 the Women shall mown, having no Husbands ; 
 their Daughters shall mourn, having no Helpers. 
 In the Wars shall their Bridegrooms be de- 
 stroyed, and their Husbands shall perish of 
 Famine. Compare 2 Esdras 15 and 16. with 
 Isaiah 17, 24, 33 Chapters, 
 A Remnant ^ 7. BuT in this great Destruction God 
 saved. will preserve a Remnant, even the sealed 
 
 Number upon Mount Sion. These are they 
 who by a Holy Severity have been conti- 
 nually dying to the animal sensitive Life ; 
 who, though willingly submitting to the 
 Necessities of Nature, yet made no Provi- 
 sion for the Flesh, to fulfil the Lusts of it ; 
 but their Meat and Drink was to do the 
 AVill of their Father which is in Heaven. 
 They laboured not so much for the Meat that 
 perisheth, as for that Eread which came down 
 from Heaven ; even that spiritual Meat and 
 Drink which sustained the Fathers in the Wil- 
 derness, 1 Cor. 10. and which our Blessed 
 Lord gave his Disciples in the Institution 
 of his last Supper, which has in all Ages 
 been the Spiritual Food of the inward new 
 Man ; and of which (we are told by Christ 
 himself, Joh. Q. 53.) that They which do not 
 eat and drink, have no Life in them. They 
 had thoroughly learned that Divine Lesson 
 of St. Paul, Phil. 4. 1 1, 12. To be content in 
 every State ; They know both how to be abased 
 and how to abound, to be full and to be hungry, 
 to aboimd and to suffer need. And accord-
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 95 
 
 ingly, whensoever it pleased God to lay his 
 afflicting Hand either upon their Persons, 
 Families, or Countries, by reducing them 
 to the Necessities of Want and Poverty, 
 they still offered up their Souls to him in 
 deep Resignation, being satisfied that he 
 that knew their Necessities, would infalli- 
 bly relieve them in his due time : Nay, so 
 firm was their Confidence, as that they 
 hoped even against Hope, i. e. when there 
 was no visible Means of Escape left; con- 
 tentedly submitting all to the Will of God, 
 whether he would please to be glorified by 
 their Life, or their Death; making that 
 indeed their only Aim and End, that God 
 might be glorified, and his Will be done 
 in Earth, as it is in Heaven. This Divine 
 Temper was, as it were, the Soul of their 
 Souls ; which, like an Holy Ferment, im- 
 parted a Sacred Warmth and Vigour to all 
 their Actions ; flaming out, upon every 
 Occasion, in heroic Acts of Charity to 
 all their Brethren : So that whensoever it 
 pleased their Heavenly Father to bless 
 them with plenty of this World's Goods, 
 they took special Care not to abuse them 
 to Luxury and Intemperance, but employ 
 them to relieve the Necessities of their 
 Brethren. They liberally dealt their Bread 
 to the Hungry, and satisfied the Souls of 
 the Afflicted : They brought the Strangers, 
 and them that were cast out, into their 
 Houses ; and whomsoever they saw naked, 
 they covered with Garments, Isaiah 58. They 
 never withheld the Poor from their de- 
 sire, or caused the Eyes of the Widow to
 
 96 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 fail ; they never eat their Morsel by them- 
 selves alone, withont saftfering the Father- 
 less to partake with them. They could 
 never endure to see any perish for vs^ant of 
 Clothing, or any Poor without Covering, 
 but warmed them with the Fleece of their 
 Sheep, Joh 31. They were none of those 
 who made any trifling Excuse serve to jus- 
 tify their love of Mammon, and who 
 thought to relieve the Wants of the Needy 
 with Compliments and fine Words ; but as 
 living Members of Christ's mystical Body, 
 they thought themselves obliged to mourn 
 with every one that mourned, and to 
 rejoice with those that rejoiced, viz. 
 with so strong a Sympathy, as to make 
 the Sufferings of others their own, and to 
 endeavour by comfortable Words, generous 
 Alms, and affectionate Prayers to God, to 
 procure them Relief and Comfort in their 
 Johb. Afflictions. Such was the Charity of Job, 
 David, Elijah, Tohit, Cornelius, and other 
 great Saints and Servants of God. Such 
 as these shall be delivered in six Troubles, 
 yea in seven there shall no Evil touch 
 them ; in the time of Famine God shall 
 redeem them from Death, and in War 
 from the Power of the Sword ; at Destruc- 
 tion and Famine they shall laugh, yea 
 they shall lift up their Faces without spot. 
 Psalm 33 They shall be steadfast and shall not fear : 
 andM. p^j. ^|jg Eygg of the Lord are upon them 
 to deliver their Souls from Death, and to 
 keep them alive in Famine : Though the 
 greedy Lions should lack and suffer Hun- 
 ger, yet such as these shall want no man-
 
 OF THE FA3IINE. 97 
 
 ner of thing that is good. The Lord shall 
 guide them continually, and shall satisfy 
 their Soul in Drought, or in the great 
 Droughts ( rmn^^nV^ ) says the Hebrew ; 
 which may, I think, not unfairly be un- 
 derstood in the Sense before us ; though I 
 freely acknowledge, that the LXXII un- 
 derstood it of Spiritual Hunger and Thirst, 
 rendering it kx^uttb^ i-7n^v[xs7 n ^^v^n o-S, Isaiah 
 58. 11. which may very well be reconciled, 
 that being indeed the most deep and inti- 
 mate Sense of the Place, of which the other 
 is only a Type or Shadow. Compare it with 
 Psalm 42. 1. 
 
 § 8. As to the Manner how, or the The Man- 
 Means whereby it will please Almighty ^"' ^*''"'' 
 God to interpose for their Preservation, 
 the Scriptures are silent ; saving that they 
 show us how God has dealt with many of 
 his Servants in the Days of Old ; how^ when 
 the Famine has been sore in one Land, he 
 has moved them to fly to another ; and has 
 commanded others to sustain them there. 
 So by a strange Series of providential Occur- 
 rences, Joseph was advanced fi'om being a 
 Prisoner to be Viceroy of Egypt, only for 
 this Reason, as he himself tells his Brethren, 
 Genesis 45. 5, 7, 8. and 50. 20. that he might 
 make a Provision for his Father and his 
 Family, who were at that time the Peculiuniy 
 the Heirs of the Promises, out of whose Loins 
 all the Families of the Earth were to be Bless- 
 ed. He being instructed by the Spirit of the 
 Most High God that was in him, to foretel 
 to Pharoah what was coming upon his Coun- 
 
 H
 
 98 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 try, and the Means to prevent the fatal Con- 
 sequences of such a Calamity. So (to men- 
 tion no more) in that great Famine foretold 
 by the Prophet Elijah, 1 Kings 17. God 
 Almighty provided for him in a particular 
 Manner, having first of all commanded the 
 Ravens to supply him with Bread and Flesh 
 Morning and Evening, till the Brook that 
 supplied him with Water w^as dried up : After 
 which he expressly orders him to repair to 
 the Widow of Zarephath, whom he had com- 
 manded to sustain him ; which she was 
 enabled to do, by a miraculous supply of 
 Necessaries, till God sent Rain upon the 
 Earth. Whether it may be by this, or by any 
 other Means, yet we may rest satisfied, that 
 God knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of 
 Temptations, (or Trials, as 'U ts^sj^ ao-jw-S may be 
 better rendered,) even as he delivered just Lot, 
 vexed with the Conversation of the Wicked, out 
 of the Flames that consumed the Ungodly ; and 
 saved Noah, a Preacher of Righteousness, from 
 the Great Deluge that came upon the Disobe- 
 dient World, 2 Peter 2. 
 An Address ^ 9. To those therefore who are yet Stran- 
 to those who ^^^.^ ^.^ ^l^|g State, and to these Promises, 
 
 sers to this ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ amiss to apply the Advice 
 State. given by the Prophet Da7iiel to King Nebu- 
 
 chadnezzar, Daniel 4. 27. That they break 
 off their Sins by Righteousness, and their 
 Iniquities by showing Mercy to the Poor ; 
 it may be a lengthening of their Tranquil- 
 lity, or a deferring of their Punishment. 
 As also that Passage of St. Hermas, in the 
 Third Vision of the First Book, which
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 99 
 
 relates to the glorious Building of the Tri- 
 umphant Church, and the various Sorts of 
 Reprobates, (Vide Locum, Edit. Cotel.) which 
 by many Passages plainly refers to these 
 Times ; as also by the Title of the Chapter 
 immediately following. (De Tentatione et 
 Tribtdatione, Sfc.) Where, when the Woman 
 had shown him the Mystery of the Build- 
 ing, and the various Sorts and Orders of 
 Men that should be rejected, she comes at 
 last (§ 9.) to put him, and in him the whole 
 Church (to whom these Truths were to be 
 committed. See the End of the preceding 
 Chapter.) in mind of some Duties, the prac- 
 tice of which would be extremely necessary, 
 in order to secure their Part in this Spiritual 
 Building ; amongst which she gives this as 
 the chief. Abundatitius aiitem inspertite egen- 
 tihus, Sfc. i. e. ' But give liberally to them 
 
 * that be in need ; for some by too free Feed- 
 
 * ing, contract an Infirmity in their Flesh, and 
 
 * do Injury to their Bodies ; whilst the 
 
 * Flesh of others, who have not Food, wi- 
 ' thers away, because they want suffi- 
 ' cient Nourishment, and their Bodies are 
 
 * consumed. Wherefore this Intemperance 
 ' is hurtful to you who have, and do not 
 ' communicate to them that want. Pre- 
 ' pare for the Judgment that is about to 
 
 * come upon you ; ye that are the more 
 ' Eminent, search out those that are Hun- 
 
 * gry, whilst the Tower is yet unfinish- 
 ' ed. For when the Tower is finished, ye 
 ' shall be willing to do Good, and shall 
 
 * not find any Place for it. See therefore 
 
 H 2
 
 100 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 * ye that glory in your Riches, lest perhaps 
 ' they groan who are in want, and their 
 ' sighing come up unto God, and ye be shut 
 ' out with your Goods without the Gate of 
 ' the Tower. Those therefore who have ex- 
 ' ercised themselves in Abstinence and Alms- 
 
 * Deeds, shall be wrought into this Tower :' 
 i. e. Be living Members of Christ's Mystical 
 Body, and by consequence shall Escape those 
 Evils and Punishments, which in the End of 
 the following Chapter are foretold, as coming 
 upon those who are shut out. Agreeable 
 to which is that Declaration of our Blessed 
 Lord, 31attheiv 25. 35. That in his Judg- 
 ment of Men, he chiefly regards these 
 Virtues, telling those Holy Souls whom he 
 admitted into his Kingdom, that it was for 
 (or because) they had fed him (in his Mem- 
 bers) when he was hungry, and given him 
 Drink when he was thirsty, took him in 
 when he was a Stranger, and visited him 
 in Prison. Such as these shall dwell on 
 high^ their place of Defence (in the Day of 
 Evil) shall he the Munition of Rocks ; (even 
 the Rock of Ages, upon whom the whole 
 Spiritual Building is founded, Jesus Christ 
 himself being the Head-corner Stone) ; Bread 
 shall be givcfi them, their Waters shall he sure^ 
 
 ^ , , Isaiah 33. 16. 
 
 Other lesser r-iz-wT' i tj j i. • 
 
 Evils shall ^ ^^' ^^us have 1 endeavoured to give 
 
 prevail at ^n Account of those Three Great Evils, 
 
 that time. viz. Of the Sword, Pestilence, and Famine ; 
 
 which shall be, as it were, the great and 
 
 principal Strokes of that great Destruction, 
 
 whereby God will punish the Apostate
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 World, when their Iniquities are come to the 
 height. Besides which, we may imagine 
 several other lesser Manifestations of Judg- 
 ment and Terror ever now and then, flash- 
 ing forth in a dreadful Variety, representing 
 as well as punishing that vast Variety of 
 Iniquities, in which the Body of Sin displays 
 itself, though it be briefly expressed by that 
 threefold Division, The Lust of the Flesh, 
 the Lust of the Eye, and the Pride of Life. 
 Such may be particularly, First, Strange Ap- 
 pearances in the Heavens, as Comets, &c. 
 expressed in St. Luke 21. 25. Ei/ Signs in 
 the Sun, ajid in the Moon, and in the Stars. 
 Ey fearful Sights and great Signs, v, 11. 
 ^dly. Earthquakes, foretold also by our Bles- 
 sed Lord, Matthew 24. 7. St. Mark 13. 8. 
 St. Luke 21. 10. These have been lately 
 felt in a dreadful manner in America, and 
 since that in Italy more than usual : As also 
 in our own Country, which has been all along 
 reputed to be less subject to them than 
 many other Countries, we have had seve- 
 ral warning Shocks, ^dly, Tempestuous and 
 Stormy Winds ; such was that never-to- 
 be-forgotten-one, in 1703, which made so 
 many Widows and Orphans in this Nation ; 
 and which, like a Besom of Destruction, 
 swept through the Length of Europe, from 
 the Shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the 
 North of Moscovy. Athly, Inundations ; such 
 was (not to mention those occasioned by 
 the aforesaid Tempest) that dismal one 
 which lately happened in Italy, in the Vene- 
 tian Territories, which overflowed vast Tracts
 
 102 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 of Land, and a very great Number of People 
 and Cattle, bthly. Fiery Eruptions out of the 
 Bowels of the Earth ; such have been very 
 lately in the Canary Islands, breaking out in 
 different Places, where many of the Inhabi- 
 tants perished, either by the Flames or by 
 the Terror. So says the Apochryphal Au- 
 thor of the Second Book of Esdras, Chapter 
 15. speaking of the Destruction of Mysti- 
 cal JBahylon, v. 38. There shall come great 
 Storms from the South, and the North, and 
 another part from the West, and strong Winds 
 shall arise from the East, 6fc. Fire, and Hail, 
 and flying Swords, and many Waters, that all 
 Fields may he full, and all Rivers ivith the 
 abundance of great Waters. And they shall 
 break doivn the Cities and Walls, Mountains 
 and Hills, Trees of the Wood, and Grass of 
 the 31eadows, and their Corn, (ythly. Terrible 
 Thunders and Lightnings ; such as we have 
 often experienced in most dreadful and fatal 
 Instances ; of which one Phcenomenon in 
 particular, our Modern Mechanical Philoso- 
 phers have put us off with very trifling Ac- 
 counts, the most probable of which would 
 be easily confounded, only by asking two or 
 three Questions. But Job, who may be pre- 
 sumed to have known as much of the Philo- 
 sophy of Nature as any of them, calls it 
 (^t,-j »jji^) the angry Voice of God, Chapter 
 
 37. 2. Which, though our English Transla- 
 tion reads (the Noise of his Voice) so making 
 the Word (»ji^) signify no more than Souitus 
 
 or Cotnmotio, as some render it ; yet LXXII
 
 OF THE FA3nNE. 103 
 
 render it by ('O^yrl) Wrath or Answer, as they 
 have also in Chapter 3. v. '2Q. Chapter 14. 
 V. 1. Chapter 39. v, 24. and Habakkiik 3, 
 v.\. so caUing it the Voice of his Anger; 
 and he says it was so terrible to him, (though 
 we may suppose hini to be too good and too 
 wise a Man to be frighted at Trifles) that his 
 Heart trembled at it, and was moved out of 
 its place. Lastly, Fires in divers Places, 
 which shall devour Towns and Cities, and 
 all the other Instruments of Vengeance, which 
 God has reserved in liis secret Treasures 
 against the time of Trouble, against the Day 
 of War, and Battle, and Destruction of the 
 Ungodly. By all these various Tokens of his 
 Indignation, is our Good God at this Day 
 alarming and awakening the impenitent World, 
 and warning them to flee from the Wrath to 
 come ; which is now ready to be poured 
 out to the full in the Height of the Anti- 
 christian Kingdom, when that Man of Sin 
 shall be revealed, who is the Perfection of 
 the Apostacy, the Top-Fruit of the Mystery 
 of Iniquity, whose coming will be after the 
 Energy of the Devil, with all Power, mid 
 Signs, and lying JVonders, and ivith all de- 
 ceivahleness of Unrighteousness, in (or among) 
 them that perish ; or (as the W ord dTroXXvfAivoig 
 rather signifies) that are already lost or re- 
 probate, i. e. whose Measure of Inic^uity is 
 full, because they ivould not receive the Love of 
 the Truth that they might be saved, 2 Thess. 
 2. 10. I shall conclude this with these re- 
 markable Words oiHippolitus, page 10. (Edit. 
 Par. per Morellium, 1561.) De consum. 
 Mundi el de Antichristo, ^c. ' These Tilings
 
 104 
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 have we told you before, that ye may know 
 the Trouble and Affliction that shall come 
 in the last Days, and the Envy, Hatred, 
 and Strife, that shall be at that time rife 
 among' Mankind ; the neglect of the Clergy 
 towards their Flocks, and the Contempt of 
 the People to their Pastors : The Children 
 shall lay Hands on their Parents ; the Wife 
 shall deliver up the Husband to Death, and 
 the Husband tlie Wife. Masters shall be 
 cruel to their Servants, and Servants shall 
 be disobedient to their Masters : None shall 
 reverence the grey Hairs of the Ancient, or 
 pity the Beauty of Youth ; Churches shall 
 be as Common Houses, and in many places 
 shall be destroyed : The Scriptures shall be 
 despised, and profane Songs shall be sung 
 up and down : Out of those who call them- 
 selves Christians, shall arise false Prophets 
 and false Apostles, Deceivers, Corrupters, 
 Evil-Doers, Liars, Adulterers, Unclean, 
 Greedy, Covetous, False-Swearers, Slan- 
 derers. The Shepherds shall be as Wolves ; 
 the Priests shall embrace a Lie : Those who 
 have dedicated themselves to God (Movx-xoi 
 vox meritd suspecta) shall covet the Things 
 of this World. The Rich shall be unmer- 
 ciful to the Poor ; Great Men shall cast off 
 all Compassion; Magistrates shall be un- 
 just, and for Bribes shall pervert the Truth. 
 The Elements also shall be confounded, and 
 become irregular in their Motions : There 
 shall be Earthquakes in divers Places, and 
 Pestilences in every City ; Thunders, Winds, 
 terrible Lightnings that shall burn up Houses 
 and Fields : Tempestuous Winds which
 
 OF THE FAMINE. 105 
 
 * shall do unspeakable Mischief both by Land 
 ' and Sea. The Earth shall be barren ; the 
 
 * Sea shall roar ; and there shall be great 
 
 * IVouble for the Destruction of so many 
 ' Men : There shall be Signs in the Sun, and 
 
 * in the Moon, and the Stars shall be irregular 
 
 * in their Courses : There shall be Distress of 
 
 * Nations; the Air shall lose its Tenipera- 
 ' ture ; grievous Hail ; insupportable Winters; 
 
 * unusual sorts of Ice ; intolerable Heats ; 
 
 * sudden Lightnings ; unexpected Fires ; and, 
 
 * in a Word, unspeakable Afflictions over all 
 
 * the Earth.' All which, according to this 
 Blessed Author, are to precede the coming 
 of Antichrist, in whose time they shall be 
 completely fulfilled.
 
 PART IV. 
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Zech. 11. 16. Lo, I ivill raise up a Shepherd 
 in the Landj which shall 7iot visit those that 
 he cut off, neither shall seek the young Ones, 
 nor heal that that is hrokeii, nor feed that 
 which standeth still: 13ut he shall eat the 
 Flesh of the Fat, and tear their Claws in 
 pieces. 
 
 V. 17. Wo to the Idle Shepherd that leaveth the 
 Flock : The Sword shall be upon his Arm 
 and upon his right Eye : His Arm shall be 
 clean dried up, and his right Eye shall he 
 utterly darkened. 
 
 ALL the afore-mentioned Evils, of which 
 I have been treating, shall be ulti- 
 mately and completely accomplished in the 
 Reign of Antichrist; the different Notions 
 and Doctrines concerning whom, I shall en- 
 deavour to set in their true Light. The Terms 
 of Antichrist, and Antichristianism, have been 
 so liberally bestowed upon each other, by 
 the differing Parties of Christendom, each of 
 them casting it upon their Adversaries, and 
 disclaiming it themselves, that he who at- 
 tempts to lix it, if he act counter to the
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 107 
 
 commonly received Schemes, and does not 
 set himself to vindicate one of the con- 
 tending- Parties, and make all the rest Mem- 
 bers of Antichrist, will certainly be looked 
 upon as a Traitor to that Church in the Com- 
 munion of which he lives, and a Man of 
 Latitude and Comprehension towards all the 
 rest. Notwithstanding all which Discourage- 
 ments, I shall endeavour (in the Fear of God) 
 to speak my Thoughts freely and impartially 
 upon so momentous a Subject. 
 
 § 1. The Word Antichrist expresses a The Word 
 Principle, Spirit, or Person, standing in Op- Antichrist 
 position to our Blessed Saviour, the Lord ^''"''*^^^^^* 
 Jesus Christ ; which Term being original- 
 ly Scriptural, is certainly intended to ex- 
 press the most perfect Opposition, accord- 
 ing to the Analogy of Nature, and the 
 plain import of the Word. The Passages 
 of the prophetical Scriptures relating here- 
 to, were by most of the Ancient Fathers 
 (as 1 shall show at large) interpreted of 
 one particular Person, who should empha- 
 tically and especially deserve that Title, 
 which in a more lax and open Sense should 
 be applied to many others. This Sense 
 of the Primitive Church was generally re- 
 tained without public Opposition, till the 
 Times of the Reformation; upon the dawn 
 of which, many of those who had long 
 groaned under the Tyranny and Idolatries 
 of the Church of Rome, and considered 
 how opposite she was, both in her Prin- 
 ciples and Practices, to the true Spirit of 
 Jesus Christ ; and withal, how agreeable some
 
 108 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 of the great Antichristian Characters were to 
 the Pope, as Visible Head thereof, began 
 to assert openly, that the Pope was that 
 Great Antichrist, or Man of Sin, concerning 
 whom the Holy Spirit witnessed by the 
 Mouths of his Servants the Prophets ; which 
 some others understood not so much of the 
 Pope, as of the whole Rommi Hierarchy. 
 And amongst most of the Reformed Churches, 
 * Notwith- i\^\^ has been the* current and common 
 standing it Doctrine ever since ; and it must be con- 
 muchTppo- fessed, that this Charge has been very learn- 
 sed hy some edly defended by many eminent Protestant 
 particular Divines. See particularly Doctor Henry Mores 
 Writers,^ Mystery of Iniquity. To obviate this, several 
 H^^I"^' . ^* of the Romanists, that they might at the same 
 Thorndyke, time defend and support that absurd Position 
 &c. of the Commencement of the Millennial Glo- 
 
 rious Visibility of the Church at the Reign 
 of Consta7itine the Great, asserted that Hea- 
 then Rome was the Seat of Antichrist, and 
 that the Roman Emperors before Constantine, 
 or Nero in particular, was that very Son of 
 Perdition who was to precede the Millen- 
 nial Reign, but sure at a great distance ; 
 whilst others, with no better Success, ap- 
 plied it to Julian the Apostate. Now it 
 must be owned, that both these Emperors 
 were very remarkable Types of him in 
 some respects or other ; but it is as plain, 
 that neither of these were that very Per- 
 son intended by that Appellation. How- 
 ever, these Opinions have been long de- 
 fended by many of the Learned of the 
 Roman Communion; whilst some very few
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 109 
 
 have stuck to the Old Primitive Doctrine. 
 The weakness of the two former Opinions 
 has been very solidly exposed and baffled 
 by the Learned Reformers ; who, though they 
 did not set themselves professedly to oppose 
 the latter Opinion, yet thought it must of 
 Necessity fall to the Ground, if they could 
 once prove their grand Position, viz. That 
 the Pope was Antichrist, which upon the 
 Grounds afore- mentioned most of them as- 
 serted . 
 
 § 2. I SHALL not here presume to enter The State 
 into a Detail of the several Arguments where- of the Con- 
 with these Learned Writers have ^^^^^- cerm^ngT"' 
 voured to support their different Opinions, personal yin- 
 but shall only say, that whilst Men do not tichrist. 
 seek the Truth sincerely and impartially, it 
 generally happens, that each Party finding 
 what makes for her Turn, runs away with 
 that, not regarding the rest; and thus not 
 rightly dividing the Word of Truth, they make 
 Distinctions where there is no Difference; 
 and set those Truths in Opposition to each 
 other, which, if rightly understood, would 
 serve mutually to explain, strengthen, and 
 support each other. This (I cannot but think) 
 has been the Case between the Roman and 
 Reformed Churches in this Controversy : 
 The one finding that the Holy Scriptures, 
 and the Doctrines of the purer Ages of the 
 Church, seemed to understand by Anti- 
 christ, one particular Person that should 
 arise in the latter Times, viz. in the End 
 of the Roman Empire, justified and defend- 
 ed this Doctrine in Opposition to that Charge 
 of Antichristianism which was justly cast
 
 no OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 upon them by the Reformers ; fondly ima- 
 gining, that if one were true, the other 
 must be false ; whilst, on the other Hand, 
 the Reformers, to make good their Charge, 
 without regarding that Doctrine which they 
 were forced to allow was Ancient, plied them 
 only with those Arguments which were pro- 
 per to the Case in Hand ; without doubt 
 iDelieving, that since they had proved the 
 Pope to be Antichrist, they were to look 
 no further. Whereas it appears to me, not 
 at all disagreeable to that perfect Oppo- 
 sition that shall be between Antichrist and 
 the Blessed Jesus ; that as our Lord Christ 
 has his Mystical, as well as his Natural 
 Body, so Antichrist should have likewise. 
 Of the Mys- § 3. The Mystical Body of our Lord 
 tical and Christ is that Company of Believers through- 
 S"o/-oMr^"^ the World, united in the Blessed Cen- 
 Lord. ^^^ ^^ Unity in the Spirit of Christ, who 
 
 is the great Spring and Foundation of the 
 Spiritual Life in them, and which does so 
 truly unite those who partake of its Ful- 
 ness, as to make them one in themselves, 
 and one in God, even as the ever Blessed 
 Trinity are one themselves, John 17. 21. 
 and these are properly said to be Mem- 
 bers of Christ, because he is their Head, 
 and from his Fulness of Life and Strength, 
 they all receive, in their several Measures 
 and Proportions ; and from him the whole 
 Mody fitly joined together, and compacted 
 by that which every Joint supplieth, accord- 
 ing to the effectual working in the Measure 
 of every part, making increase of the I^ody unto 
 the edifying of itself in Love, Ephesians 4.
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 1 1 1 
 
 16. The Members of this Mystical Body 
 have been, in all Ages, labouring in the deep 
 Resignation and Simplicity of Love, and 
 in patient bearing of the Cross, to fill up 
 that which is yet behind of the Sufferings 
 of Christ (ra vfi^iixoi]ot,* &c.) and to accom- * Col. i. 24. 
 plish that Measure of Sufferings, which shall 
 put a glorious Period to the suffering Eco- 
 nomy, by which we are wrought up to Per- 
 fection, Hebrews 2. 10. Till ive all come in 
 the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge 
 of the Son of God unto a jjerfect Man, unto 
 the measure of the stature of the Fulness of 
 Christ, Ephesians 4. 13. Which Perfection 
 and Fulness, when it shall be obtained by a 
 select Number, determined by God, in the 
 spiritual Kingdom of Mount Sion ; upon these, 
 as the First-fruits of his Kingdom, shall Christ 
 appear in his gloritied Person, to fulfil the 
 Joy of his Saints, and to confound his Op- 
 posers; where he shall reign as the visible 
 Head of his Church : And so his glorified 
 Person, or natural Body (if I may so express 
 it) shall be as it were the head-covering of his 
 mystical Body, which is the Church, Colossians 
 1. 18. 
 
 § 4. Now I see no absurdity in suppo- Ofthemys- 
 sing, that the workings of Antichrist in the ['^fj^ody 
 Powers and Centre of Darkness may be ^y j^^j. 
 something analogous to this Economy oichrist. 
 the Blessed Lord Jesus, whose Designs for 
 the Restitution of the lapsed Creation, he 
 endeavours to counteract and overthrow. 
 The Devil, that grand Deceiver and Ene- 
 my of Mankind, has ever since the Fall
 
 112 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 of our first Parents, been plotting and con- 
 triving to plunge us deeper into Destruc- 
 tion, and to make our Fall irrecoverable. 
 In order to this, he has endeavoured to ape 
 and imitate the Dispensations of God, and to 
 assimilate, as near as might be, the Spirit of 
 Error to the Spirit of Truth. Thus without 
 doubt he acted even in the Patriarchal Times: 
 He had, we find, his Magicians in Egypt to 
 oppose the Finger of God in his Servants 
 Moses and Aaron ; so after the giving of the 
 Law, as God had his consecrated Places for 
 holy Worship, his Altars, Priests, Festivals, 
 &c. so had the Devil his likewise, as appears 
 at large not only from Scriptures, but Hea- 
 then Antiquity. So in like manner this same 
 Spirit of Delusion, ever since the Ascension of 
 our Blessed Lord into Heaven, set himself 
 to oppose and undermine that Spiritual Dis- 
 pensation, whereby God is preparing for 
 himself a peculiar People, a royal Priest- 
 hood, a Church without spot or wrinkle, 
 or any such Thing. Thus he stirred up 
 Simon Magus, under the Preaching of St. 
 Philip at Samaria, to exalt himself, and give 
 * Tiva /A£y«v. out, that hc was some great Person ;* which 
 the People explain, saying. This Man is 
 the great Power of God, i. e. the Christ ; 
 for by that Name he is called, 1 Corinthians 
 1. 24. Upon which Account this may not 
 improperly be called the Head or Beginning 
 of that Opposition ; which in regard of its 
 being peculiarly intended against the Per- 
 son and Offices of Christ, is emphatically 
 called Antic hristian. And St. John in his
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 113 
 
 first Epistle brings it as an Argument to 
 prove that they were in the last Times, or 
 under the Dispensation of the Messiah, He- 
 breivs 1, 2. because the Mystery of Antichris- 
 tianism was then working, and there were 
 many that denied that Jesus Christ was come 
 in the Flesh, 1 Ephesians 1. 18, 22, 23, and 
 Chapter 4. 1, 2, 3. This is Antichrist that 
 denieth the Father atid the Son ; He that de- 
 nieth the Sou, hath not the Father, i. e. doth 
 not believe in the Father. Which denying, or 
 not Confessing, the Son, (I believe,) doth 
 express a denying that Christ had appeared 
 in the Flesh ; notwithstanding what some 
 Learned Men have said to prove that this 
 Text was levelled at the Gnostics, amongst 
 whom it was a received Principle, that they 
 might lawfully deny Christ in time of Perse- 
 cution, if at other times of Freedom and Secu- 
 rity they professed him ; forasmuch as that 
 absolute denying Christ's Appearance in the 
 Flesh, was much more fatal to the Interests 
 of Christianity, and consequently much more 
 Antichristian than the other. For if Christ 
 were not come, then by consequence all the 
 Obligations to strict Obedience, Mortifica- 
 tion, and the Cross, drawn from his Life 
 and Doctrines, are null and void ; and, 2^%, 
 They must be forced to look for another, 
 who should appear in a State more agreea- 
 ble to their Prejudices concerning him, which 
 was a fatal Step to Delusion, John 5. 43. 
 2 Thessalonians 2. 10, 1 1, 12. And those very 
 Persons who. Chapter 4. 3. are said to be in 
 the Spirit of Antichrist, are for that reason, 
 Chapter 2. 18. called Antichrists. (Even as 
 
 I
 
 114 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 They that are led by the Spirit of God, are 
 the Sons of God. Romans 8. 14. and they to 
 whom the Xoyog came, or who were Partakers 
 of the Xoyog, were called Gods, John 10. 35. 
 and Partakers of the Divine Nature, 2 Peter 1 . 
 4.) But ever since the Doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity have been clearly vindicated, and the 
 same Antichristian Spirit has been settled in 
 different Forms and Measures in such Chil- 
 dren of Darkness, who sheltering themselves 
 under the Name and Profession of Chris- 
 tianity, have either by their Doctrines or Prac- 
 tices, or both, endeavoured to undermine and 
 overthrow that very Religion which they 
 profess. And Antichristianism was not such 
 a professed Enmity as was that of the Jews 
 and Heathens, but, generally speaking, they 
 were false Brethren, who either broached 
 pernicious Doctrines in the Church, or lived 
 very scandalous Lives, to the Reproach of 
 their Religion; who, when they were at last 
 discovered by the Illuminated Governors or 
 the Church, were ejected out of it, of which 
 we have many Instances in St. PauVs Epis- 
 tles, and from that time did commence a 
 professed Opposition. These were called 
 Heretics, such as went out from the Church, 
 hut were not of it; for if they had been of 
 it, no doubt they ivould have continued in it; 
 but they went forth that they might be made 
 manifest, 1 John 2. 19. And in the pro- 
 gress of the great Apostacy, the Poison 
 sunk yet deeper, and discovered itself not 
 so much in any Opposition to the Received 
 Doctrines of Christianity, as to the great 
 End and Design of it, viz. The Restitution
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 1 1 5 
 
 of Mankind to that Love of God from whicli 
 they were fallen, by Humility, Mortification, 
 and bearins: the Cross. For when the Em- 
 perors embraced Christianity, and the Church 
 began to enjoy the Favour and Protection 
 of the Secular Powers, that Primitive Love 
 and Fervour which shone so visibly amongst 
 them in the hottest Persecutions and Oppo- 
 sitions of their Enemies began sensibly to 
 cool and languish, and more carnal Inclina- 
 tions to start up in their room. The distin- 
 guishing Marks of Favour and Honour which 
 were put upon the Governors of the Church 
 began sensibly to soften and corrupt that 
 Holy Severity that had so long flourished 
 amongst them ; they began much more to 
 aspire after Honours, Riches, and Authority, 
 and the Church itself was early beginning 
 to be modelled according to the Form of the 
 Civil Government in the Empire, which was 
 one chief Occasion of the many Quarrels 
 amongst the Bishops about their Sees; and of 
 their aspiring to a worldly Dignity suitable to 
 the Places of their Residence. This Ambi- 
 tion and Strife of the Clergy produced also 
 a fatal Degeneracy in their Manners, much 
 complained of by Ancient Writers ; having 
 entertained wrong Notions of their Power 
 of binding and loosing, inflicting of Cen- 
 sures, distributing the Charity of the Peo- 
 ple, and determining of Controversies in 
 Civil Matters voluntarily referred to them 
 according to the Apostle's Advice, they 
 laid the early Foundations of the Antichris- 
 tian Pre-eminence now visible in the Papacy, 
 
 I 2
 
 116 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 * Ep. 203. St. Austhi * inveiglis severely against the 
 worldly Pomp of Ecclesiastics in his Time, 
 and accordingly, in conjunction with the rest 
 of the African Bishops assembled in Council, 
 passed their Censure upon it. As did also 
 \ha''\ cln ^^- -^^^"^^^^t -and St. Basil,l so did also St. 
 16 Clirysostom,^ but particularly St. Beryiard, in 
 
 X See Soz. his Memorable Sermon de mails Pastoi'ibus. 
 Lib.G. Cap.'Yhe Church in short became too like a 
 ^^' „ Worldly Kingdom, even in the worst respects, 
 Mat. 10. 10. especially when Kings and Emperors became 
 i7i 1 Tim. over lavish in their Liberality to purchase 
 Horn. 50. Pardons for their Sins ; whereupon a Learned 
 Man observed, that the Discipline of the 
 Church was very much relaxed, in recom- 
 pense, as it were, for the large Endowments 
 received from them. This Prospect of Riches, 
 Honours, and the Good Things of the World, 
 was an Encouragement to Men of worldly 
 and corrupt Minds to get themselves into 
 Places of Trust and Authority in the Church, 
 ■where resolving to enjoy them to the Height, 
 they quickly sought out such Glosses and 
 Expositions of those places of Holy Scrip- 
 tures which witnessed against their Corrup- 
 tion, as might reconcile their Religion with 
 their Inclinations, so verily making the Word 
 of God of non-effect by their Traditions, 
 which were so effectually conveyed to Pos- 
 terity, both by Precept and Example, that 
 at length the Face of Religion was quite 
 changed, and under the Name and Pro- 
 fession of Christianity, the very Design of 
 it, (viz. the Restoring Mankind to the Love 
 of God, by the Mortification of themselves)
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 117 
 
 Was utterly undermined and subverted, till 
 it pleased God, about the beginning of the 
 fifteenth Century, to raise up some who 
 boldly and resolutely bore their Testimony 
 against many Corruptions, and began such 
 a Reformation, as would (if the Primitive 
 Standard had been closely observed) have 
 been most glorious. 
 
 § 5. Now all these Corruptions were no That the 
 doubt Antichristian, and so far as the Ro- ^.^"^'.^.^ ¥ 
 mish Church abetted and maintained ^^^'<^^ tianismls 
 Idolatry and Superstition, that insolent and not appro- 
 blasphemous Usurpation of a God-like Su-priatedto 
 premacy, in opposition to the Supremacy *^/ Church 
 of Christ and the Civil Magistrate, that ^-^ ^''°'^- 
 bloody and persecuting Temper towards 
 those that witnessed against her Corrup- 
 tions, which are the plain and distinguish- 
 ing Characters of Antichrist,* so far she * See Dan. 
 might properly be called Antichristian, and ^^- p7-39. 
 the Pope as the Visible Head of the Apes- ^_^'"' ^^^ 
 tacy, might (according to what was before 7, 3*21, 20* 
 laid down) be properly called Antichrist ; 25. 8. 9-14, 
 which has been learnedly defended by Mr. 23, 24, 25. 
 Mede, Dr. More, &c. But that Antichris- "• ^^- ^ 
 tianisra should be so far confined to the 
 Church of Rome, as to exempt all the other 
 difi^erent Communions of Christendom from 
 that Charge, is hardly justifiable. It might 
 be reckoned an invidious Design to ofter to 
 expose and lay open the Failures and Defi- 
 ciencies of the Reformed Churches as to 
 their Constitution and Discipline, many of 
 which we lament, and wish to reform ; but 
 the Iniquity of the Times will not suffer it. 
 Whilst Policy and worldly Wisdom make
 
 118 
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 That the 
 Spirit of 
 Antichrist 
 reigns also 
 in the re- 
 formed 
 Churches. 
 
 Men unreasonably afraid of giving Scandal 
 by the Restitution of that Discipline, which 
 others were not afraid to give by abolishing 
 it. However, this may with too much Jus- 
 tice be said, and is too evident to be de- 
 nied, That the Spirit of Antichristianism 
 reigns at this Day far and wide amongst 
 much the greater part of the Members, even 
 of the best constituted and purest Church, 
 and other Congregations of the Reforma- 
 tion. For the Antichristian Spirit of Error 
 and Delusion has so far insinuated itself 
 into almost all sorts of Professions, that under 
 the cover and pretext of Religion, and the 
 Cause of God, they stand in direct Oppo- 
 sition to the Great End and Design of Reli- 
 gion ; depending in the mean time upon 
 their Blind Zeal for each of their particular 
 Schemes and Discipline, and (that Grand 
 Idol of the Reformation) hearing of Sermons, 
 which one part is come to that abuse at 
 this day, as to justle out an essential part of 
 Christian Worship, the Celebration of the 
 Holy Eucharist, without which the Service 
 of the Church is imperfect, (as hath been 
 learnedly proved) and which doth too appo- 
 sitely fall in with one of the Characters of 
 Antichrist, viz. the taking away of the daily 
 Sacrifice or Oblation. Thouii;h at the same 
 time it must be confessed, to our Grief 
 and Shame, that even that most Sacred 
 Symbol of Christianity is as capable of be- 
 ing abused as any of the other, and actually 
 is so. With these outward Duties and Forms 
 (as they make them) of Christianity (though 
 few do observe even these) Men are amused.
 
 OF ANTICHRIST, 119 
 
 and made to C believe that they are good 
 Christians, though really in their Hearts 
 they have not one of the Qualities of the 
 Spirit of Jesus Christ. This is a Truth 
 too melancholy to be insistf^d upon, and too 
 plain to be denied. And all those Persons 
 who are in this Spirit, who either practice, 
 encourage, or support these Corruptions, are 
 properly Members of the mystical Body of 
 Antichrist, of whom when a (perhaps deter- 
 mined) number shall have filled up the Mea- 
 sure of their Iniquities, they shall produce 
 as the Genuine Fruit of their complete Apos- 
 tacy, an embodied or Personal Antichrist, 
 who shall be the Reverse or Opposite of 
 the Blessed Jesus ; so that as the Perfection 
 of Goodness was lodged in the Person of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ; so the Perfection of 
 Evil should be in him who is called Anti- 
 christ; and as the One is the Son of God, 
 so the other is the Son of Satan. So Origen* * Lib.Q.p. 
 tells Celsus. 306. Edit. 
 
 § 6. Now this Opinion of a Personal An- ^^^^'j^^ff^g. 
 tichrist is (I.) plainly the Doctrine of Scrip- ritiesfor a 
 ture, in some places whereof there is an in- Proof of a 
 disputable clearness, and others (that have?«^«fnfl/ 
 been controverted, and by the Modern Writers Antichrist. 
 upon that Subject have been applied to the 
 Papacy) have been so understood by the 
 Ancients. 11. It was the uncontroverted Doc- 
 trine of the Primitive Church. III. It was 
 a common Doctrine amongst the Jews, which 
 is to this Day retained by those among them 
 who treat of this Subject. 
 
 I. The Remarkably singular Epithets given From Scrip- 
 in Scripture do plainly point out a parti- '"'^*
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 cular Person, such are, 1. 'O 'Avrix^n-og, or 
 the Antichrist, by way of Eminence. 2. 
 The Man of Sin, the chief Author and Ser- 
 vant of Sin, the Head of the Apostacy. 3. 
 The Son of Perdition. 4. 'O 'Ai/lixst/Asvo?, or 
 the Diabolical Adversary. 5. 'O 'T7r£^aipojM,£i'Of, 
 the Blasphemous Usurper of the place of 
 God. 6. 'O "Avofjt.og. The Lawless one, who 
 pretends to be above all Laws, and violates 
 all both Human and Divine : Whosoever, 
 1 say, will observe these Titles and Charac- 
 ters, must needs think them sufficient Argu- 
 ments of the Truth I am pleading for ; but 
 there is yet another Place that will, I think, 
 put the Matter beyond all doubt, and that 
 is the remarkable Declaration of our Bles- 
 sed Saviour to the Jetvs, John 5. 43. (who 
 sought to kill him for asserting his Divine 
 Mission, v. 18.) / mn come, says he, iti my 
 Father s Nafne, and ye receive me not, if 
 another shall come in his oivn Name, him 
 ye will receive. Which Words are a Prophe- 
 tical Denunciation (notwithstanding what some 
 have objected from the conditional Parti- 
 cle iocv, which they understand to include 
 a degree of Doubt and Uncertainty) of the 
 just Judgment of God upon their Infidelity, 
 that forasmuch as they had rejected the Lord 
 of Life and Glory, coming in the Name, 
 and doing the Works of his Father, there- 
 fore, by the Permission of God, there should 
 arise one in the last Days, who should 
 come in his own Name, and glorify himself, 
 exalting himself in the place and stead of 
 God, whom by reason of die Darkness and 
 Blindness of their Understandings, they should
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 1 2 1 
 
 receive as the Christ. Now can any Ex- 
 pression in Nature be conceived more plainly 
 to point out Personality than these! How 
 can we else understand the Opposition be- 
 tween / and Another ; between coming in his 
 Fathers Name, and coming in his own Name? 
 Besides, is it to be imagined that the Jews, 
 who did from the Beginning, and do to this 
 Day expect their Redeemer to come as a 
 Deliverer and a Prince, clothed with all 
 the Majesty and Splendour of an Everlast- 
 ing Kingdom, should ever believe any Civil 
 or Ecclesiastical Society, especially that are 
 now in being, to be their Messiah? Much 
 less can we imagine, that they will ever 
 fix upon the Bishop of Rome, or look for 
 Deliverance from his Hands ? This can hardly 
 be conceived. There are moreover, many 
 Places in the Prophetical Scriptures, which 
 by the Ancient Fathers were generally ap- 
 plied to the same Person ; as Isaiah 14. and 
 17. was by St. Cyprian,* with many others,* Lib. 2. ad 
 which falling more properly under another ^""■^"^'^'"' 
 Head, I shall at present omit, and endea- 
 vour to give a brief Answer to Two or 
 Three little Objections which have been made 
 by the Reformed against this Doctrine. The 
 First was that Assertion of St. Paul, 2 Thes- t^,o Objec 
 salonians 2. 7. that the Mystery of Iniquity tions an- 
 did even then ivork; and that of St. John,^^^^^^- 
 1 Ep. Chap. 2. V. 18. that there luere then 
 many Antichrists ; and Chap. 4. v. 3. that the 
 Spirit of Antichrist ivas then in the World. 
 All which Assertions amount to no more than 
 this, that the Antichristian Spirit was actually
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 operating at that time in the Beginnings of 
 the Apostacy ; and that there were many 
 engaged therein, who, according to what I 
 have laid down, p. 113. are therefore called 
 Antichrists, but do by no means weaken 
 the Truth contended for; but (as I have 
 there shown) are very consistent with it. 
 The other Objection is taken from the Pro- 
 phecy of Daniel, who. Chapter 7. saw the 
 Vision of the Four Beasts, and the Ten 
 Horns of the fourth Beast, and the little 
 Horn that arose out of the midst of them. 
 Now (say the Objectors) the Four Beasts 
 are explained, v. 17. to be Four Kings, i. e. 
 Monarchies or Kingdoms, as it is explained, 
 V. 23. and if by the Ten Horns of the fourth 
 Beast be to be understood Ten Kingdoms, 
 into which the fourth Monarchy shall be 
 divided ; then by the same Rule of Inter- 
 pretation, by the little Horn arising out of 
 the Ten, if it be applied to Antichrist, which 
 is generally owned by the Ancients, must be 
 understood not a Person, but an Antichris- 
 tian Society, Church, State, Monarchy, or 
 Kingdom. To this 1 answer, First, That 1 
 see no reason why we should understand by 
 the Four Beasts Four Kingdoms, and not 
 Four Kings, as the Letter of the 17th Verse 
 expresses it; that is, the Founders of the 
 Four Kingdoms or Empires ; and so the call- 
 ing the fourth Beast the fourth Kingdom, may 
 be easily reconciled to the common way of 
 speaking in Scripture, where not only Fa- 
 milies and Cities, but even Countries and 
 Kingdoms are expressed by, and compre-
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 123 
 
 hended under their Founders and Gover- 
 nors ; and of this Opinion are not only St. 
 Jerome, among the Ancients, but even Va- 
 tahlus, PereriuSy &c. among the Moderns. 
 2dii/, Though we should grant, that Four 
 Monarchies are to be understood by the Four 
 Beasts, and by consequence a long Suc- 
 cession of Princes, yet will it not from thence 
 follow, that Antichristian Kingdom (precisely 
 taken) must be so too. For the long Dura- 
 tion and Continuance of the Four made such 
 a Succession necessary ; but the short Reign 
 of Antichrist being limited to Three Years 
 Six Months, must necessarily terminate in 
 one single Person ; who, by being called a 
 little Horn, Chapter 7. 20. must be explained 
 of one Person, as the Ten Horns are asserted 
 to be Ten Kings, v. 24. and (says St. Jerome 
 upon Daniel 7.) shall arise from among the 
 Ten Kings, who shall destroy the Roman 
 Empire, and divide it between them ; (and 
 a little after) who shall not be as some 
 imagine, the Devil himself, but a Man in 
 whom the Devil shall dwell corporeally. 
 
 II. This was also H. The uncontroverted i^^'om the 
 Doctrine of the Primitive Church ; by which f^^^chjL 
 I do not mean, that it was ever established 
 by the Authority of Councils, much less made 
 an Article of Faith : But that all the Fathers 
 who wrote about Antichrist, who were neither 
 few in Number, nor of the least Repute in 
 the Church, nor at great distance from the 
 Apostolical Age, were of this Opinion. 
 Amongst whom were (to mention no more) 
 St. IreriiBUSf Cyril of Jerusalem, Hippolytus,
 
 124 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Origefiy the Author of those Writings com- 
 monly attributed to Lactantius, Methodius 
 Patarensis, Ephrem Syrus^ Sulpitius Severus, 
 &c. nor do we find that they were ever blamed, 
 much less censured for this Doctrine. And 
 their Authority must certainly weigh with 
 those who have any Reverence for Primitive 
 Antiquity, and will judge impartially of the 
 Truth of Things. It will be here needless 
 to quote the particular Passages of these 
 Writers, which favour this Opinion, because 
 we shall be forced frequently to have re- 
 course to them upon the following Heads. 
 From the HI. This was also, and still is, III. The 
 
 Jews. Opinion of the Jewish Writers upon this 
 
 Subject, particularly Rabbi Jacob, in his Book 
 intituled, Ahchoth Rochel, published by Hul- 
 sius, under the Name of Theologia Judaica ; 
 as also Rabbi A ben Ezra, Rabbi Solo7nou 
 and Kimchi, upon the Psalms and Prophets; 
 and the Hebrew Chronicon, intituled Seder 
 Olam. In all which you meet with abun- 
 dance of fabulous Stories concerning his 
 Parentage, Birth, Education, Size, &c. which 
 we are no otherwise concerned with, than as 
 they prove the Opinion of the Jews to have 
 been, that the Antichrist which they expected 
 was to be a single Person, not a Society, 
 Church, or Monarchy. To which also may 
 be added, the many remarkable Testimonies 
 of the Sybilline Oracles, which are full of this 
 Doctrine. 
 
 The Types of ^ 7^ Xhe coming of this Man of Sin 
 
 ^4 ft it ch VI st ^ 1 • 
 
 has been variously prefigured and typified 
 both under the Law and the Gospel (even
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 125 
 
 as our Blessed Lord also was) by many 
 diabolical Opposers of the Truth and People 
 of God ; such were Antiochus Epiphanes, He- 
 rod the Son of Antipater, Simon 31agiis, NerOy 
 Julian the Apostate, and Mahomet, &c. In 
 the History of the Lives of most of the 
 afore-mentioned Persons, are to be found 
 such Circumstances, and as it were Marks 
 of Antichristian Opposition, as may war- 
 rant such a Persuasion. The fierce Perse- 
 cutions raised by Antiochus Epiplumes against 
 the Jews, who were at that time the P ecu- 
 Hum, or Visible Church ; as also his Pro- 
 fanation of the Sanctuary and Temple of 
 God, related at large I Maccabees 1. were 
 such as have made many of the Modern 
 Expositors, who were prejudiced against the 
 Doctrine of a personal Antichrist, apply all 
 those Places of the Prophet Daniel to him, 
 which were by the Ancients applied to 
 Antichrist. And who is moreover distin- 
 guished by the Author of that History, with 
 this remarkable Epithet, 'Ai^x^uKoq 'ViC^oc ; Words 
 deeply emphatical, and that express a very 
 great degree of Corruption. The History 
 of Herod is full of Antichristian Charac- 
 ters ; as First, his setting himself up for 
 the Christ, or at least assenting to those 
 that did, falsely applying to him that Pro- 
 phecy of Jacob, Genesis 49. 10. That the 
 Sceptre should not depart frotn Judah, nor a 
 Lawgiver from betiveen his Feet, till Shiloh 
 should come; finding that the Sceptre was 
 taken from Judah, and translated to him. 
 These were they who were called Herodians,
 
 126 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 not as Origen and some others imagined, 
 upon a Civil Account, but as St. Jerom, 
 Epiphanius, and Theophilact asserted, because 
 they held Herod to be the Messiah. Which 
 also our Blessed Lord seems to hint at, Mark 
 8. 15. bidding his Disciples to beware of the 
 Leaven of Herod; by which the Disciples 
 understood, Matthew 16. 12. the Doctrine, 
 &c. Secondly, (not to mention his Cruelties 
 to his own Friends, largely described by 
 Josephus) his murdering Forty young Men, 
 with their Masters Judas and Matthias, who, 
 in their Zeal to the Worship and Honour of 
 God, pulled down the golden Eagle, which 
 he in Contempt of Religion had set up upon 
 the Porch of the Temple, Recorded by Jose- 
 * Ant. lib.phus* Lastly, His diaboHcal Design to mur- 
 17. cap. 12. der the Blessed Infant, whom he looked upon 
 as the Rival of his Hopes and Kingdom; 
 which Cruelty extended so far, as to murder 
 (if what is Recorded by the Ethiopic Liturgy, 
 and Greek Menology be true) Fourteen Thou- 
 sand Infants ; and amongst the rest his 
 own Son, as the Historians of those Times 
 attest. What we have before observed of 
 Simon Magus, setting himself up as God, is 
 sufficient to justify our making him one of 
 the Antichristian Types ; (not to mention 
 his dark Magical Power and Knowledge, 
 whereby he deceived and bewitched the 
 People of Samaria, who looked upon his 
 mighty Works to be Proofs of his Divinity, 
 Acts 8. 11.) which blasphemous Exaltation 
 of himself, because it may seem to some 
 not to be fairly proved by that Text of
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 127 
 
 Scripture which I have before produced, p. 
 112. I shall mention a Passage or two out 
 of some of the early Christian Writers, who 
 lived not long after his own Times. St. Jus- 
 tin Martyr'^ tells the Emperor, that this Simon * ^p- 1- § 
 Magus had been esteemed as a God, ^ven^f- P*^^* 
 in his own Imperial City of Rome; mention- 
 ing also an Inscription which he had seen 
 upon a Statue, which he took to be his, with 
 this Inscription, 2j/aoh Aew o-afrw. The same 
 has been related upon his Authority, by 
 Irenceus, Tertullian, and other later Writers. 
 Which, though Valesius in his Notes upon 
 Eusebius-\ has endeavoured to invalidate, fan- t EccL 
 eying it to have been a Mistake in that Holy ^'*'' ^^J^ 
 Father, proceeding from his not understanding ' ^' 
 Latin ; alleging, that the Statue mentioned by 
 him was lately dug up, with this Inscription, 
 SEMONI SANGO DEO fIDIO. Yet he 
 has been clearly answered by the Learned 
 Church Critic 'TiUemont,\ and so has Mr. X Vid. Til- 
 
 Le Clerk, under the borrowed Name of The- f"'"!'^' 5.T 
 
 ' , T7- / • lensio a. Au- 
 
 reponus, who asserted the same as valesius ; ^^^ adver- 
 
 and since by our Learned Countryman Dr. sus phere- 
 
 Jenkins. Origen^ understands that Expres- pon: ani- 
 
 sion of his being called the great Power ^J!fg * ^* 
 
 God, of his being called the Christ, as I (^ Cont. 
 
 have explained it, p. 96. And further, the Celsum. 
 
 Fragments of his own Writings testify as Lib. VI. p. 
 
 much ; amongst which is that particularly, ?^^'^' ^"■^*' 
 
 quoted by St. Jerom, in his Commentary 
 
 upon these Words, in the 24th of St. Matthew, 
 
 Many shall come in my Name. Simon the 
 
 Samaritan (says he) whom we read of in the 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, has left us this Testi-
 
 1 28 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 mony of himself, among many others. Ego sum 
 Sermo Dei, Ego sum speciosus, Ego Paracle- 
 tus. Ego Omnipotens, Ego omnia Dei. Be- 
 sides those blasphemous Assertions of his, 
 which are quoted by Moses Bar-Cephas, a 
 Syrian Bishop, in the Third Part of his Com- 
 mentaries upon Paradise, which you may see 
 in the End of Dr. Grabes First Volume of his 
 Spicilegium. As is also that of Nero, in which 
 I shall only observe, that his Apostatizing (if 
 I may so speak) from his happy Beginnings in 
 his Quinquennium, observed by almost all the 
 Historians that speak of him, does most ex- 
 actly answer to the Opinions of the Fathers 
 concerning Antichrist; as doth also the Apos- 
 tacy of Julian. For thus saith Hippolytus 
 concerning him, in his Oration de Consumma- 
 tione Mu7idi, published in the Bibliotheca 
 Patrum, Tom. II. p. 13 and 14. ' In his 
 
 * Beginnings he shall be Merciful, Mild, Reli- 
 ' gious, and Peaceable; he shall punish In- 
 
 * justice; he shall not suffer Idolatry; he 
 
 * shall love the Scriptures ; he shall reverence 
 ' the Priests : After this he shall cleanse the 
 ' Lepers ; he shalK heal the Paralytic ; he 
 ' shall cast out Devils ; he shall foretel 
 
 * Things to come ; he shall raise the Dead ; 
 ' he shall support the Widows and Fatherless; 
 
 * he shall reconcile Differences. Then all the 
 
 * People, especially the Nation of the Jeius, 
 
 * shall meet together to make him King : At 
 
 * first he shall craftily refuse this Honour; 
 ' but they persisting in their Intentions, shall 
 ' make him King : Then shall he lift up his 
 
 * Heart, and change his Manners ; he shall
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 129 
 
 * become fierce, unmerciful, unjust, proud,' 
 &c. agreeable to what is foretold by the 
 Prophet Daniel concerning him, Chapter 11. 
 V. 21. that thei/ shall not give him the Honour 
 of' the Kingdom, (i. e.) by a usual Hebraism, 
 The Honour of a Kingdom shall not be 
 given him; meaning that he shall have no 
 Right nor Title to it before this flattering 
 Usurpation, (or else it contradicts what fol- 
 lows) but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain 
 the Kingdom by Flatteries; (^^pL,-jL,pj^) by 
 
 insidious treacherous Dealings. The Story 
 
 of Mahomet is well known and the Parallel 
 
 very easy and Natural ; besides whom there 
 
 have been many others, who have in some 
 
 Respects or other typified this Mystery of 
 
 Iniquity. 
 
 § 8. The Man of Sin then whom these Of the Birth 
 
 have represented shall certainly arise in the ^^^^ Paren- 
 
 latter Erid of the Kingdoms, i. e. of the fourth '?^/ f^.^'*" 
 
 ■^ '^,^ . * , ' f^ tichrist. 
 
 or Koman Jimpu'e, ivhen the Transgressors 
 
 shall be come to the full, or (as the LXXII 
 
 read it 7rX7\oii[ji.ivuv rm a,[ji.cic,fliu)v dvloov) when the 
 
 Measure of the Iniquities of the World 
 
 (or perhaps Christendom) shall be filled up, 
 
 as we are told Daniel 8. 23. Hippolytus 
 
 supposes (Page 30. Edit. Paris.) that he shall 
 
 be the Devil himself, who shall take upon 
 
 him the appearance of Human Flesh, and 
 
 shall falsely appear to be born of a Virgin, 
 
 (which he expressly asserts) not knowing 
 
 otherwise how to reconcile to his Opinion 
 
 that place of Moses, Exodus 13 and 2. That 
 
 ivhatsoever openeth the Womb is the Lord's, or 
 
 K
 
 ]M) OF ANTICHRIST, 
 
 as the Vulgar Latin lias it, Sanctum vocahitur 
 Doinino. Which Opinion seems to have been 
 y,, . J A transcrihed from him by Epiirem Syrus in 
 counts hcreof^^^'^ Sermon concerning Antichrist. But this 
 by some is a contrivance to salve an Hypothesis which 
 Writers. Jg §0 far from being necessary, that it con- 
 tradicts the very Letter of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, 2 Thessalonians 2. 3. (where he is ex- 
 pressly called The Man of Sin, 6fC,) as well 
 as the common Sentiments of most other 
 Writers. Others have been of Opinion that 
 he shall be an Incarnate Devil, which St. 
 Hilary asserts in his Comment on the afore- 
 cited Place of the Thessalonians. This Opi- 
 nion (notwithstanding what has been said 
 to justify the Possibility of the Incarnation 
 * Dfi Curti. of Angels by Tertidlian* and Origen-\) is, as 
 Chrisil, cap. upon many Accounts unreasonable, so con- 
 Rlltfi ^''" ^I'atlicted by Damascene, Lib. 4. Cap. 27. Chry- 
 t Tom. 2. sostom and Theophylact upon the Second 
 in Joh. Epistle to the Thessalonians. Others are of 
 Opinion that he shall be born of a very im- 
 pure unclean Woman, and begotten by an 
 Incubus, or Evil Spirit. Whether such Pro- 
 creation be possible, and whether the Tradi- 
 tions of the Ancients concerning such Births 
 be true, (as that of Remus and Romulus, and 
 Servius Tullius, recorded by Dionysius Hali- 
 carnassceus. Lib. 1 . that of Plato, by Diogenes 
 Laertius; of Alexander the Great, by Plu- 
 tarch, (S^x.) I shall not here determine; but 
 The most shall Only say, that it appears to me probable, 
 probable. that his Generation shall be according to 
 the ordinary natural course, between two 
 Persons who shall have tilled up the measure
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 131 
 
 of their Iniquities, the Devil so magically 
 co-operating with them, as to take posses- 
 sion of him in the very Womb, and make 
 him throughout as completely diabolical as 
 it is possible for a Man to be. This is the 
 Opinion of Rabaniis Maurus (to whom the 
 later Critics attribute that little Treatise 
 (le Antichristo, published at the end of the 
 Ninth Volume of St. Atistitis Works,*) he * /^. 2.59. 
 shall be born (says he) like other Men, not ^''''' '*^'"'^- 
 of a Virgin, as some affirm ; in the begin- 
 ning of his Conception the Devil shall en- 
 ter into his Mother's Womb, and there shall 
 cherish and defend him. So St. Cpil of Jeru- 
 salem says,t The Devil shall use him as +^'''i^§^'' 
 an Organ, or Instrument through which he 
 shall act. For so he understands that Ex- 
 pression of his coming yiotl' ivi^ynxv Tou loijavac, 
 
 2 Thessalonians 2. 9. His Parents, as most 
 Writers imagine, shall be Jews; but I ra- 
 ther believe a Jew and an Apostate Christian^ 
 such mixed Births having been observed to 
 be fatal. Such were the Rebel-Giants, be- 
 gotten between the Sons of God and the 
 Daughters of Men (whether by the Sons of 
 God we understand only the Spiritual Seed 
 of Seth, or the 'Ey^^'yopof, as in the Prophecy 
 of Enoch\) ; such was rebellious Absaloin, \ SynceUi 
 the Son of Maachah, the Daughter of the ^''^rmo^r 
 King of Geshar ; and such, it is commonly yA^-^' ^^'^^ 
 thought, was Adonijahy the Son of Haggith, 
 whose Country indeed the Scripture takes no 
 notice of. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Thatheshall ^ Q. His Extraction by the Jewish Side 
 
 Dau.' ^ nerally asserted by Hippolytus,^ by Iren(eus,'\ 
 * P. 12. who in a mystical Sense interprets that Pas- 
 t Lib. 5. sage of Jeremiah, Chapter 8. v. 16. The 
 Cap. 30. snorting oj' his Horses ivere heard from Dan (or 
 as the LXXII read it, oi•A^<To^i^cc, we shall 
 hear, Sfc.) of the coming of Antichrist. By 
 these Words (saith he) Jeremiah shoivs out 
 of what Trihe he shall arise ; adding withal, 
 That this is the Reason why Dan is omitted 
 amongst the Tribes that are sealed. Apoc. 7. 
 St. Ambrose also, de Sened Patriarch, asserts 
 the same from these Words, Genesis 49. 16. 
 Dan shall judge his People (viz. the Jews) 
 as one of the Tribes of Israel (or as the one 
 single Tribe of Israel, to whom the Govern- 
 ment is given, i. e. Judah) ; speaking thus, 
 Chapter 7. Sampson indeed came out of the 
 Tribe of Dan, who judged Israel Twenty 
 Years, but the Prophecy pointed not at 
 him, but at Antichrist, who shall arise out 
 of that Tribe, a severe Judge and cruel 
 i QuiBst. Tyrant. Theodoret\ asserts the same thing; 
 109. m Gen. jj^^ij^g. ^it^^l^ T^^t as the Sceptre given 
 to Judah, did principally point out our 
 Lord, who arose out of that Tribe, so the 
 promising a sort of Rule or Government to 
 Dan, did point out Antichrist, who should 
 usurp the Government of Christendom in 
 the later Days. The same is asserted by 
 .§ ^^Jj.^' Prosper. Aquitanicus,\ in these Words : It is 
 Duaci.^ 67. P^^^^ ^^^^ Antichrist shall arise out of the 
 ■ Tribe of Da7i, which is now in Persia, ac- 
 cording to the Prediction of the Patriarch,
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 133 
 
 Genesis 49. So does also Anastasms Smaita* * Ham.io. 
 St. Gregoiy,-\ mentioning that afore-cited Ge- ^"^ Hexaem. 
 nesis 49. says, That Antichrist shall come j^i^Hqiji 
 out of the Tribe of Dan; for which reason, Patrum. 
 says he, in the Division of the Camp of Tom. I. 
 Israel, Dati pitched first towards the North, . ^ ■^'*' ^'• 
 thereby to signify him who said in his Heart, ^^ ^ ' ^^' 
 I will ascend into the Sides of the North, 
 I will he like the 3Iost High, Isaiah 14. 13. of 
 whom also another Prophet spake, saying, 
 The snorting of his Horses shall be heard 
 from Dan, Jeremiah 8. 16. And this I think 
 is fairly hinted in the Prophecy of Jacob, 
 Genesis 49. 17. Dari is a Serpent in the ivay, 
 biting the Horses' Heels, that the Rider shall 
 fall backward; which, when he had said, 
 pointing at Antichrist, he adds, by way of 
 Confidence in the Promises and Mercies of 
 God, I have waited for thy Salvatio?i, O Lord! 
 i. e. The Coming of the Messiah, Luke 2. 30, 
 as if he had said, Dari, out of thee shall arise 
 the last and greatest Enemy of the Church 
 of God ; but this is my Consolation, that the 
 Messiah shall come upon thee and destroy 
 thee, and bring Salvation unto Israel, and 
 unto the Ends of the Earth. And this the 
 Jews are so fully persuaded of, that Ben-Dan, 
 or a Son of Dan, is a proverbial Expression 
 amongst them, to signify a notorious Villain, 
 or Murderer, as David de Pomis observes in 
 his Lexicon upon the Word Dan. 
 
 § 10. As for the Stature, Shape, and Fea- OJhisIn- 
 tures of his Person, his Education in his^"^^' 
 Infancy, &c. which have been with great 
 Confidence described by some Writers of the
 
 ,34 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 middle and later Ages, I shall omit them 
 as things that have no footsteps in Scrip- 
 ture (excepting only Daniel 8. 23. capable 
 of divers Constructions) nor Primitive Anti- 
 quity; and shall only observe, that as it is 
 recorded of our Lord Jesus Christ, Luke 2. 
 52. that from his Childhood he increased in 
 Wisdom, and Stature, and Favour, both with 
 God and Man; so it is highly probable that 
 Antichrist, during his Minority, shall be con- 
 tinually improving in Magical Diabolical 
 Arts, and converse with Evil Spirits, by 
 which he shall be accomplished and fully 
 instructed for the great Work which he is 
 to do. 
 T/ie Region § 11. As for the Place of his Birth, there 
 where he ^^^ Reasons (though not equally convincing 
 tppem-'^ to all) why we may think he shall be born 
 in the East, though his first Appearance 
 may be in the West. But that not being 
 very clear, we shall pass on to consider what 
 St. Johfi says of him, Apoc. Chapter 13. that 
 he shall arise out of the Sea, (for of him 
 * Lib. 5. that Place is interpreted by Irenceus,*) by 
 Cap. 28. which, upon a twofold Account, we are to 
 understand the West. First, Because the Sea, 
 and the Isles of the Sea, have been con- 
 stantly so understood by the Jeivs : And, 
 2dly, Because it agrees with the Prophecy 
 of Daniel, that he shall arise out of the Ten 
 Horns of the fourth Beast ; that is, the Ro- 
 man or Western Empire. The Region of 
 the Western Empire, from whence he shall 
 come, is the North; as appears by compa- 
 ring Jeremiah 4. 6. and Joel 2. 20. Joel 1.2;
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 135 
 
 2. 2; 3Iatt/ieiv 2i. 21. not to mention many 
 other Places, for the same Reasons probably 
 that were mentioned Part I. that Region 
 being more particularly expressive of the Ven- 
 geance and Judgment of God. 
 
 § 12. At his first Appearance in the His first 
 World, he shall (as we observed before) ^Ippearancr 
 seem to be very lleligious, Wise, Tempe- ;^';J/';^^^^'^''^'' 
 rate, and Peaceable, so says Cyril f by ^^^^^ quest of the 
 counterfeit Virtues, jomed with the great Ten Kings. 
 Powers of Magical Knowledge, he shall (says *^«'-^5. §5. 
 he) deceive the World, especially the Jews, 
 (who, according to the line of Time, shall 
 then begin to expect their Messiah and 
 Redeemer,) into an Opinion that he is the 
 very Christ. Upon which (says Hippolytus 
 aforecited) they shall offer to make him 
 their King, which he shall craftily refuse, 
 but they shall force him to accept it. Here 
 then we find him invested in the Royalty 
 and Majesty of a Kingdom, to whom, by 
 degrees, shall be gathered from all parts 
 those whose Iniquities are full, and who are 
 qualified for a nearer converse with him, by 
 partaking of his Magical Power, which he 
 (in imitation of our Blessed Lord's shed- 
 ding forth his Spirit upon his Disciples) 
 shall probably impart to some select Fol- 
 lowers, as the First Fruits, to be as Head 
 Powers and Rulers of his Magical Army, 
 described by Joel, Nahum, &c. as I shall 
 prove, of which they shall all be in a less 
 degree Partakers. Now it is probable that 
 the first Act of Power that he shall perform, 
 shall be revenging upon Rome, (which is Ba-
 
 1.36 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 hylon, say the Reformed Commentators) the 
 Ancient Ruins of Jerusalem, at the Instiga- 
 tion of the Jews his Followers. This is the 
 * P. 439. Opinion of Irenceus^ and Hippolytus, § 56. 
 1. 23. 449. ajjjj to tl^ig bQj}^ of tijej^^ apply the Parable 
 
 ^' " of the unjust Judge that feared not God, 
 
 neither regarded man, to whom the Widow, 
 that is, the Earthly Jerusalem applied her- 
 self, entreating him to avenge her of her 
 Adversary, meaning Rome, which he accord- 
 ingly did. The Manner, in which he shall 
 punish her, is thought to be that he shall 
 invade the ten Kings, into whose Hands 
 the broken and divided Power of the Ro- 
 man Empire shall be delivered. These had 
 not received a Kingdom at the writing of this 
 Prophecy. Revelations 17. 12. hut shall re- 
 ceive Power as Kings one hour (or in the 
 same hour or time) with the Beast. We 
 are not, therefore, to imagine that by the 
 Roman Empire is to be understood the Em- 
 pire as it was then, or as it is now, but as 
 it shall be at that time when the Beast or 
 Antichrist shall arise, plainly also intima- 
 ted to be the last Kings by being called Toes, 
 Daniel 2. 41. Three of these Kings Anti- 
 christ shall set upon and overcome, and they 
 shall submit to him, Daniel 7. 24. And the 
 rest being affrighted shall give up their King- 
 doms and Authority to him. Whence St. 
 John says of them all, that they have one 
 mind, and give their Strength and Power to 
 the Beast, Revelations 17. 13. Because the first 
 three submitted by Force, the other seven 
 through Fear : These he shall make his Exe-
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 137 
 
 cutioners to punish the Romans l)y making 
 them Slaves and Vassals, and destroying 
 their Polity, and bringing them into so se- 
 vere a Condition, as may be understood by 
 making her desolate and naked, and eating 
 her Flesh and burning her with Fire. * Which * Vid. Ibid. 
 Expression of burning her ivitli Fire may, 
 perhaps, have a particular regard to the 
 Manner of besieging her, viz. by bombard- 
 ing her. Revelations 17. 16. Which is not to 
 be understood of the utter Destruction of the 
 City, for that is to continue till the pour- 
 ing forth of the last Vial, when it will pe- 
 rish in the great Earthquake that precedes 
 or accompanies the Destruction of \\\X\- 
 christ; and so far even the Roman Catho- 
 lic Writers agree, that Antichrist shall de- 
 stroy Rome, though none of them say he 
 shall do it in Person. Which, when he has 
 done, it is not improbable that he shall re- 
 ceive Divine Homage and Worship, perhaps 
 in the very Cathedral of St. Peter. Even 
 as Mahomet II. when he had taken Constan- 
 tinople and entered it in Triumph, placed 
 himself blasphemously upon the Altar of 
 St. Sophia, to receive a sort of Divine Wor- 
 ship from his military Slaves. And this will 
 seem more likely when we shall consider 
 what Effects such a Conquest will have up- 
 on the Minds of his Followers, who shall 
 see him Triumphant in that City where 
 once Religion flourished gloriously, and in 
 which, at this time, there is more of the 
 Pomp and external Grandeur of the (so 
 called) Christian Church to be seen than
 
 138 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 any where else, they must needs look upon 
 this to be no less than a vanquishing of Chris- 
 tianity and triumphing over its Holy Author, 
 and by consequence to be a firm Proof of his 
 own Divinity. 
 i)f the East- § 13. Whilst these Things are transact- 
 ern Beast, or \^^\t^ the West, St. Johi sees another Beast 
 False Pro- ^^jgjj^o, qjj^ ^f i\^q East, expressed by the 
 Earth, m opposition to the .Sea, which is 
 * Lib. 5. the West. This is his false Prophet. IrencBus* 
 ]). 444. calls him his Armiger (or uVao-Trirri?, as the 
 t 5'«;rt. 13 Word is preserved by Andreas Ccesariensis'\ ) 
 in Ajwc. p. ^jjj] J cannot but think that this is the same 
 that is mentioned by Lactatitius, p. 652. as 
 arising in the Power of the Evil Spirit out 
 of Syria, distinct from Antichrist whom he 
 mentions, p. 650. as coming out of the far- 
 t 2. D/rt/ r/V thest parts of the North. Sulpitius Severus\ 
 Vda Mar- .^^^^ counts two Antichrists, one arising in 
 ini, ap. -. ^j^^ East, and the other in the West, though 
 it must be confessed in an order which 
 is the Reverse of ours, supposing that Nero 
 shall rise again in the West, and Anti- 
 § Dt Pro- ch list in the East. And Prosper^ asserts the 
 miss.p.Gif. game, understanding the 40th and 41st 
 Chapters of Job, concerning Eehemoth and 
 Lemathaii, one arising out of the Earth 
 and the other out of the Deep or Sea, of 
 these two. This Eastern Antichrist, or false 
 Prophet, shall be to the Western, as the 
 Moon to the Sun, his reflex Image or Light, 
 whom in his own Region he shall preach 
 up as the Messiah, that shall shortly come 
 and take Possession of his Kingdom. So 
 it is observable in History, that Mahomet
 
 OF ANTIC HR 1ST. 1 3J) 
 
 arose in the East very near that notable 
 Era of Antichristianism 600, when Boniface 
 111. was declared Universal Bishop by P/iocas 
 the Emperor of Constantinople* the Anti- * yifi //t/. 
 christian Spirit aiming, as it were, to op- i/oms. p. ion. 
 press both Regions at once, to be as a faint 
 Representation of the Universal Monarchy 
 he asserts, and to observe the growth of 
 any Enemy that may arise in either Region. 
 Even so the Angel that limited the Dura- 
 tion of the Antichristian Times is repre- 
 sented as setting one foot upon the Earth 
 or East, and the other upon the Water or 
 West, Revelations 10. 2- thereby, perhaps, sym- 
 bolically representing as well as foretelling 
 the ntter abolition of the Antichristian Power 
 out of the Church, both in Body and Soul (if 
 1 may so express it); for even that also is, 1 
 believe, hinted in the Distinction of Earth 
 and Water. But to return, this false Pro- 
 phet shall exercise all the Power of the first 
 or Western Beast, as his Deputy or Vice- 
 roy, Revelations 13. 12. but not so eminently 
 or Universally till after the Western Beast 
 shall have received his deadly Wound, and 
 been healed of it, v. 12 and 13. This deadly 
 Wound shall be probably that he shall 
 seem to die (perhaps to be slain) and rise 
 again in imitation of our Blessed Lord's 
 Death and Resurrection, 1 say seem to die, 
 for so the expression cJ? i(r<p(x.yiJ^iVY\v, v. 3. seems 
 plainly to import, after which sham Resur- 
 rection he shall impower the false Prophet 
 to do great Wonders in his Name, v. 13, 
 14, 15. (probably in imitation of our Blessed
 
 140 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Lord, who, after his Resurrection and Ascen- 
 sion, sent his Spirit upon his Holy Apos- 
 tles, giving them thereby a Commission to 
 preach his Gospel, and do Miracles in his 
 Name). He shall cause to be made an 
 Image of the first Beast who had the deadly 
 Wound, and by his great Magical Power 
 shall make it live and speak, i. e. perhaps 
 cause some Evil Spirit to inhabit it and 
 give Oracles from it ; who shall command 
 all that will not worship it to be put to 
 Death, v. 15. This Image might probably 
 be in this respect represented by the Image 
 which was set up by the King of JBabyloriy 
 Daniel 3. as Irenceus asserts it was upon 
 another, viz. the Number, it being sixty 
 Cubits high, and six broad. Iiencsus, Lib. 5. 
 Cap. 29. 
 The Oppo- § 14. And as the Mystery of Iniquity 
 sitionthat shall thus work, so it is probable there 
 fy'lhe^'^'^''^^^^^ be a proportionable Opposition made 
 Church. ^y some who sliall be anointed to be as tlie 
 First-fruits of the Kingdom of the Lamb, 
 and who before they are gathered into one 
 Body, as they shall be afterwards, may 
 bear their Testimony in both these Re- 
 gions (perhaps in the two Cities of Babylon 
 or Rome, and Jerusalem) against the Blas- 
 phemous Usurpations of the Antichristian 
 Beasts. These shall be such who having 
 been long exercised in the Discipline and 
 Patience of the Cross, shall before the Ap- 
 pearance of Antichrist be so perfected, as to 
 be qualified to receive the Everlasting Gos- 
 pel, which shall be preached to all Nations.
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 1 4 1 
 
 This we are to understand, Revelations 12. 1. 
 By the Woman clothed with the Sun, crying 
 out, travailing in birth, and being in pain 
 to be delivered. That is, the Church labour- 
 ing in pain to perfect Christians and con- 
 vert the Nations, to bring into herself a 
 perfect Number known to God before the 
 great Antichristian Persecution. And it is 
 not improbable that there shall be at that 
 time a very great Efflux of Grace, which 
 may stir up some pious Souls to a more 
 frequent and devout Celebration of the Holy 
 Eucharist, and accompany the Celebration 
 of it, which may be the visible Medium 
 whereby their Perfection may be wrought 
 out ; answering to that great and notable 
 Passover instituted by good Josiah a little 
 before the Sabylonish Captivity, and that of 
 Hezekiah not long before, of which the Scrip- 
 ture witnesseth, 2 Chronicles 30. 2(3. that the 
 like had not been kept in Jerusalem since the 
 days of Solomon the Soti of' David King of 
 Israel. For the reason of that so solemn 
 Institution given by Hezekiah himself was. 
 Chapter 29. v. 10. that the fierce Wrath of 
 the Lord might turn away from them, and 
 that God might be merciful to their brethren 
 that were gone into Captivity, Chapter 30. 9. 
 i. e. the Ten Tribes carried away by the 
 King of Assyria, v. 6. Those then that 
 shall be thus perfected shall go forth preach- 
 ing the Kingdom of God, and foretelling 
 the sudden coming of Antichrist. So says 
 Abbot Joachim.* The Persons whom God * ^**- '?• o.e 
 
 shall design for this High Office, and qua- 
 
 Tribulat. 
 p. 5.
 
 142 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 lify to bear it, shall probably be chosen 
 here and there one out of all Nations and 
 People whom the Spirit of Wisdom shall 
 instruct and teach, enter into them, and 
 fully possess them, making them thereby 
 Friends of God, and Prophets, Wisdoms 7. 
 14, 27. at first she will walk with them by 
 crooked ways, and bring Fear and Dread 
 upon them, and torment them with her 
 Discipline, imtil she may trust their Souls, 
 and try them by her Laws ; then will she 
 return the straight way unto them, and show 
 them her Secrets. Ecclesiastes 4. 17, 18. 
 And from this Divine Teaching and Wis- 
 dom these Persons are frequently, in the 
 Prophet Daniel, called the Wise, and Men 
 of Understanding, and those that know their 
 God, Daniel n. 35; 12.3, 10; 11.32. and 
 as they shall go forth in the Spirit of Wis- 
 dom, so shall they also in the Spirit of 
 Power, being accomplished with the higl» 
 graduated Gifts of the Holy Ghost. For 
 to them also does the Great Charter of 
 the Apostles extend, 3Iark 16. 17, 18. that 
 thei/ shall cast out Devils, they shall speak 
 ivith New Tongues, they shall take up Ser- 
 pents, and if they drink any deadly Thing 
 it shall not hurt them, ^x. For it is not 
 said that these Signs should follow the Apos- 
 tles, but in general all them that believe, i. e. 
 who have the same Faith that they had, 
 according to what is said Matthew 21.21, 22. 
 Mark 11. 22, 23, 24. that all things are 
 possible to them that believe. So also St. 
 Peter declares. Acts 2. 39. that the Promise^
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 143 
 
 viz. of the Spirit, loas not to themselves 
 and that Generation only, but to their Chil- 
 dren also, and to all that ivere afar off, even 
 to as many as the Lord God shoidd call. 
 Thus accomphshed and completed in the 
 New Birth, which is nothing else but Faith 
 working by Love, Galatians 5. 6; 6. 15^ they 
 cannot be supposed to want those Virtues 
 and Powers, which our Lord hath promised 
 shall always accompany Faith, though no 
 greater than a Grain of Mustard-Seed, which, 
 as himself says, is the least of all Seeds, Luke 
 17. 6; Matthew 13. 31, 32. 
 
 § 15. This is a Doctrine that will never A Digres- 
 go down with those who are wedded to sjon concern- 
 the commonly received Opinion, that the '"fffjfllj^ Jf 
 miraculous Powers and Gifts of the Holy Spiritual 
 Ghost were appropriated to the Apostles, Gifis, (md 
 or the next succeeding Age, looking upon Miraculous 
 them indeed to be no better than the Infant ,/"J^!*A 
 Supports 01 a rising Church, things proper 
 to gain Respect and Authority to new Doc- 
 trines and the Preachers of a new Religion, 
 but not at all necessary for times of greater 
 Perfection and Improvement, such as came 
 afterwards, when the Truths of Christianity 
 were sufficiently settled, and generally be- 
 lieved ; much less can they be necessary for 
 these Days of Light and Wisdom, for us 
 who live under such a Dispensation, which, 
 some would have us believe to be as Per- 
 fect, both as to Doctrine and Discipline, as 
 any thing can be on this side Heaven. This 
 is a common and prevailing Opinion, which 
 deserves a very particular Examination, too
 
 144 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 long for this Place; I shall, therefore, only 
 make two or three Remarks upon it, and 
 return to my Subject. 
 From the I. St. Paul, Ephesians 4. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 
 Scriptures, asserts that the various Gifts and Dispensa- 
 tions of the Spirit given by our Lord after 
 his Ascension, which were those before men- 
 tioned out of St. Mark 16. 17. with the 
 other, whereby they were distinguished into 
 Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and 
 Teachers, were given, for the Perfecting of 
 the Saints, for the Work of the Ministry/, 
 for the edifying of the Body of Christ, till we 
 all come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the 
 Knowledge of the Son of God, unto a Perfect 
 Man, unto the Measure of the Stature of the 
 Fulness of Christ, 6fc. i. e. as the succeeding 
 Verses explain it. The End of these Gifts 
 and Powers was the gathering and com- 
 pleting a perfect Church upon Earth ; which 
 is a Doctrine of Scripture of singular use 
 in things of this Nature. Now can any 
 one show me when this End was attained ? 
 When and where was this Perfection of 
 the Saints ? When did all come in the 
 Unity of the Faith and Knowledge of the 
 Son of God unto a Perfect Man? and 
 yet it has pleased God to suspend these 
 Means, these Powers are ceased. What 
 shall we say then? that God determined 
 an End which he could not accomplish, 
 or pitched upon Means disproportionable 
 to the End proposed? God forbid! The 
 Early Apostatizing of the Church from her 
 iirst Love, and the gradual Progress of
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. i45 
 
 that Apostacy, made God abhor his Sanc- 
 tuary, and withdraw those visible Tokens 
 of his Presence; and among- the Jews the 
 suspension of these miraculous Powers was 
 constantly looked upon as a Mark of the 
 Divine Displeasure. Thus Exodus 33. 3, 5. 
 God refuses to go up with the People be- 
 cause of their Iniquities, which cannot be 
 understood of his general Presence, who is 
 every where, and fiUeth all Things, but of 
 his special miraculous Care and Protection 
 of them. So when Joshua humbled him- 
 self before God, for the Defeat of Israel 
 by the Men of Ai, Joshua 7. 12. God tells 
 him the Reason, and threatens him to be 
 with them no more, unless they did de- 
 stroy the Accursed Thing from among them. 
 To mention no more, when the Angel of 
 the Lord appeared to Gideon in his Thresh- 
 ing-floor with this Salutation, The Lord is 
 with thee ; Thou mighty Man of Valour, 
 Judges 6. 12. His Ansiver ivas. Oh my Lord! 
 if the Lord be with us, why is all this befal- 
 len us, (viz. the Oppression of the Midian- 
 ites?) and where are all his Miracles which 
 our Fathers told us of, such as the Deliver- 
 ance out of Egypt ? &c. As if he had said, 
 the suspending his wonted miraculous Pro- 
 tection of us, is a sufficient Mark of his 
 Indignation. And I cannot but think that 
 the wise Compilers of our Excellent Li- 
 turgy had this in their Tlioughts, when 
 after those moving words. Psalm 44. 1. O 
 God, we have heard with our Ears, &c. 
 The Church devoutly achls, by way of 
 
 L
 
 \4(i OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Confidence in the former Mercies of God, 
 O Lord arise, help, and deliver ns for thine 
 Honour. 
 From the II, It was the Opinion of many of the 
 Ancients. Fathers, (not to say the Doctrine of the Ca- 
 thoHc Church, which the Learned Mr. Dod- 
 well asserts, Dissert. Cyprian, p. 12. § 10.) 
 that Miracles, or the Gifts of the Holy 
 Ghost, would always accompany the Ca- 
 tholic Church, and l)y consequence were 
 never to cease, unless (which was hinted by 
 many of their Expressions) there should be 
 wanting fit Persons to receive and execute 
 * Lib.'d, those great Commissions. Irenceus,^ speak- 
 cont. Hceres. \^^ of the Gifts of the Spirit, says, They 
 ^' "' ' were a Treasure deposited by God in the 
 Church ; which Spirit, he says, is the Prin- 
 ciple of Divine Life and Energy in the 
 Church, even as the Soul to the Natural 
 Body; adding, ' God has placed in the 
 ' Church Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, and 
 ' all the other Gifts of the Spirit, which all 
 * they are not Partakers of who are out 
 ' of its Communion ;' (plainly intimating, that 
 the Faithful were Partakers :) ' For (a little 
 ' after) where the Church is, there is the 
 ' Spirit of God ; and where the Spirit of 
 ' God is, there is the Church, and all Graces 
 ' (or Spiritual Gifts, as the Word signifies'). 
 t Lib. 7. Origen also,! speaking of the Jews, says, 
 
 f!l' oo^ ' They had no Prophets amons; them after 
 sura, p.337. < .1 'ri • r di ^ § • t7 
 
 the Commg of our Blessed Saviour, ror 
 
 ' they were forsaken by God, after they 
 
 ' had rejected him whom the Prophets fore- 
 
 ' told : But these Powers, revived again at
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 147 
 
 * the Pleaching of Jesus, and much more 
 
 * after his Assumption ; then they decreased 
 
 * again : But there are still some Foot- 
 ' steps of them remaining among a few 
 
 * Persons, whose Souls are purified by the 
 ' Word of God, and whose Actions are 
 
 * conformable.' For (as he goes on) The 
 Holy Spirit of Discipline will Jlee Deceit, 
 and remove from Thoughts that are without 
 
 Undcf standing, yS'lsdoms 1. 5. JEusebius,^ dis- * Eccl. 
 puting against the Montanists, has this Pas- ^'*^' ^**- ^• 
 sage : If (as the Montanists tell us) after ^^P' ^'" 
 Quadratus and Ammianus Philadelphus, these 
 Women of Montanus succeeded in the Gift 
 of Prophecy ; let them show us who shall 
 succeed them, for the Apostle teaches us, 
 that the Gift of Prophecy must continue 
 in the Church till the Second Coming of 
 our Lord ; which, lest any should interpret 
 only of the ordinary ministerial Succession, 
 as it has been expounded, 1 shall produce 
 another Passage, (Lib. 5. Cap, 7 J where, 
 after he had quoted a Passage out of Irenceus, 
 concerning the continuance of Miracles to 
 his time, adds. That these different ^oc^i<r[xoilx 
 (a very comprehensive Word) were exer- 
 cised even in his own times Tra^a tok aH»°'?> 
 by those that were worthy to receive them. 
 Many other Testimonies might be produ- 
 ced, which I shall omit, excepting only 
 one out of Cardinal Cajetans Commentary 
 upon Aquinas.-\ Speaking of the graticB t '^da. Ida. 
 gratis datcB, he puts a Question, why the Gift Q"^*^ ^'^^' 
 of Tongues is not continued in the Church ? 
 To this, says he, 1. St. Augtistin answers, 
 
 L 2
 
 148 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 That the Gospel hath been preached among 
 all Nations. This Answer he rejects as un- 
 satisfactory, and contrary to the Know- 
 ledge and Experience of that time. 2. That 
 being- of the Number of the grati(B gratis 
 dates, which were l)y them conceived to be 
 given to Men without any regard to the 
 moral or natural Disposition of the Recei- 
 vers, it must be resolved entirely into the 
 arbitrary Pleasure of God, who divides 
 them severally to every Man, according to 
 his good Pleasure : But neither does this 
 Answer satisfy him. He adds, The chief 
 and great Reason seems to be our luke- 
 warmness, and neglecting to fLdtil that Com- 
 mand of our Lord, of praying the Lord 
 of the Harvest to send more Labourers into 
 his Harvest. To which, says he, may be 
 added, the want of Piety, particularly in the 
 Prelates, or Governors of the Church, whose 
 Iniquities make them uncapable of receiving 
 those Graces ; for it is plain, that those 
 Graces are not regularly bestowed on those 
 who unqualify themselves for the receiving 
 them, though they are not given upon the 
 Score of Merit. So the Marriage Conver- 
 sation rendered even the Prophets them- 
 selves uncapable of receiving the Influences 
 of the Spirit. Thus far this Great Man. But 
 to return to our Subject from whence we 
 have made this (1 hope not unprofitable) 
 Digression. 
 The Opposi- § 16. Let us here contemplate a little 
 flTcA^'T'* ^'^^ Opposition that tlie Holy Scripture seems 
 andAnti"^^^ "^^'^^ between the Antichristian Company 
 
 christian 
 (Characters.
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 149 
 
 and the Followers of the Lamb, according- 
 to the different Characters and Denomina- 
 tions by which they are distinguished to 
 us. First then, answerable to Babylon in 
 the West, the great Whore, the Mother of 
 Harlots, Revelations 17. 1, 5. is the Wofnan 
 in the Wilderness, bringing forth the Man- 
 child, that luas to ride all Nations with the 
 Rod of Iron, Revelations 12. as the being in 
 the Wilderness or Solitude, is opposed to 
 being in the City. Answerable to the Wor- 
 shippers of the Image of the Beast in the 
 East, Revelations 13. 15. are those that wor- 
 ship in the Temple, Revelations \\. 1. The 
 Beast and False Prophet are opposed by the 
 Two Witnesses, Revelations 11.3. The Hun- 
 dred Forty and Four Thousand that receive 
 the Mark of the Lamb upon 31ount Sion, 
 Revelations 14. stand in Opposition to those 
 who receive the Mark of the Beast, Revela- 
 tions 13. 16. And all these, no doubt, with a 
 peculiar regard to some particular Marks and 
 Signatures, according to the arch-typal or 
 mystical Order of Scripture Names and Cha- 
 racters ; all which we must be content to be 
 ignorant of, till the Spirit that searcheth the 
 deep Things of God, shall be pleased to reveal 
 them to us. 
 
 § 17. Our last View of Anticln'ist was. Antichrist 
 as triumphing at Rotne ; we see him next '"^'^'^'"^'^^ 
 with his Magical Army marching to invade p,'J' J",^'^} 
 the East. This Translation of his Govern- joeipx;;/am- 
 ment is attested by Ireneeus ;* as also by ed in this 
 Lactantius,-\ in these remarkable Words: The;^^«f-^ 
 Government shall again return into ^*«« ; 3^ *„ ^449^ ' 
 
 t P. 647.
 
 150 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 the East shall govern, and the West shall 
 obey (speaking of Antichrist). The terrible 
 and dreadful Pomp of this Army is largely 
 described by the Prophet Joel and Nahum, 
 and some small touches of it in Hahakkuk, 
 Zephaniali, Daniel, and Zachary ; which, be- 
 cause it may appear to be a new and un- 
 warrantable Assertion, I shall endeavour to 
 strengthen by two or three Considerations. 
 The Prophecy then of Joel has not been yet 
 perfectly fulfilled, either in the Destruction of 
 the City and People of the Jews, by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, or in that by Titus Vespasian. 
 Now this Expression is much like that of our 
 Saviour, Mark 13. 19. In those Days shall 
 he Aifflictions, such as was not from the Begin- 
 ning of the Creation which God created, even to 
 this time, 7ior ever shall be. Which Words, as 
 they relate indeed to the Destruction of Jeru- 
 salem by the Romans, yet are ultimately to be 
 completed at the End of the World : So like- 
 wise those of the Prophet Joel. For in v. 2. 
 a Day which is called The Day oj' the Lord, 
 is described as a Day of Darkness, and of 
 Gloominess, of Clouds, and of thick Darkness : 
 And this shall herein consist, that a mighty 
 and a strojig People, of ivhotn there has not 
 been ever the like, neither shall be any more to 
 all Eternity, shall come upon Jerusalem as the 
 Morning spread upon the Mountains. 2dly, 
 From the 12th to the 16th Verse of the 2d 
 Chapter, the Prophet gives Counsel how the 
 Inhabitants of Jerusalem ought to behave 
 themselves, and what they ought to do to 
 be exempted from the Calamity, which
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 151 
 
 does not so properly agree to the Babylonish 
 Expedition, because it was known out of 
 the Prophet, that not only at that time 
 there would be no Remedy ; but that the 
 Jews were bound, according to God's Will, 
 to surrender themselves up to the Babylo- 
 nians ; which, when they refused to do, the 
 King, together with the Nobles, made their 
 Misery fall heavier upon themselves, their 
 City, and their People, Jeremiah 21. 9; 
 38. 2; 52. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Further, in the 
 17th Verse, Joel prosecutes the Counsel by 
 advising the Priests to weep between the 
 Porch and the Altar, and to say, Spare thy 
 People, O Lord! &c. whereupon follows in 
 the 18th Verse to the 27th, the Answer of 
 this Prayer, viz. that God luould be jealous 
 for his Land, and pity his People. Now it 
 is not found that either the Priests did then 
 make such a Prayer, or that the promised 
 Answer followed ; the Temple, City, and 
 whole Land being utterly destroyed and 
 made desolate. Neither did this at all 
 come to pass in the Destruction from the 
 Romans ; for the Temple was destroyed some 
 Weeks before the City, and then no Relief 
 followed, but such a Desolation as conti- 
 nueth to this very Day. 3f%, If the Promise 
 of the Effusion of the Spirit upon all Flesh, 
 V. 28. be accomplished fully and ultimate- 
 ly (as some contend) at Pentecost, then it 
 was accomplished full Forty Years before 
 the Desolation ; which nevertheless the Pro- 
 phet says must come after. This Prophecy 
 then is yet to be fulfilled ; and what can
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 be meant by this great and terrible Army, 
 but that of Antichrist, who is the Consum- 
 mation of the Curse, and who by the Ma- 
 gical Power of his Spirit shall unite all his 
 Followers in the Principle and Powers of 
 Hell ; to which also we may reasonably 
 refer all those great Things in Prophecy, 
 which cannot with any Congruity be ap- 
 plied to any other notable Period of His- 
 tory. The Prophet Joel begins in such a 
 manner, as plainly to point out to us the 
 last and great Affliction of the Church. 
 Compare Chapter 1. v. 2. Chapter 2. 2. with 
 Daniel 12. 1. Matthew 24. 21. In the 4th 
 Verse of the first Chapter, he nameth Four 
 grand Causes of the great Desolation. The 
 Palmer-tvonn, Locust, Canker-worm, and Ca- 
 terpillar : By which Four Species of In- 
 sects, which are frequently the natural Causes 
 of a Famine, he does probably point out 
 to us Four grand Divisions of the Anti- 
 christian Army. The Three last of these 
 being applied in Scripture by way of Com- 
 parison to Men, we need not doubt but 
 that the first bears the same Relation in 
 this Place. These Four Divisions may march 
 under Antichrist their Head, at some Dis- 
 tance from each other; the Second plun- 
 dering what was left by the First ; the 
 Third what was left by the Second ; and 
 the Fourth utterly consuming what was left 
 by the Third. These may properly be typi- 
 fied by the Four Angels, mentioned Reve- 
 lations 9. 14, 15. and may really be under 
 the Influence of the Four dark Hieiarchies,
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. ir>.) 
 
 mentioned Ephesians 6. 12. Moreover, v. 9. 
 The 3Ie((t' Offering, and the Drink- Offering 
 is cut off from the House of the Lord. This 
 may be upon a double Account. First, In 
 respect of the Famine, and decay of the 
 Fruits of the Earth, so that there will not 
 be Corn and Wine enough for the Conti- 
 nuation of such Offerings. And, 2d/i/, In 
 respect of Antichrist, who will not suffer 
 such Oblations to be made, but take away 
 the daili/ Sacrifice, according to Daniel, Chap- 
 ter 8. 11, 12. Which is another Argument 
 that the Vermin, v. 4. and the strong and 
 innumerable Nation, v. d. is the Army of Anti- 
 christ; as the 31eat-Offering and Drink-Offer- 
 ing is the Sacrament of the Body and Blood 
 of Christ. V. 11, 12. saith Joel, Be ye 
 ashamed ye Husbandmen, howl O ye Vine- dres- 
 sers, 4^c. because the Harvest of the Field is 
 perished, the Vine is dried up. Whence it 
 appears, that this Antichristian overflow will 
 be in Autumn; which is also confirmed by 
 Jeremiah 8. 13, 16, 20. Mystically it ex- 
 presses the last Times, when the Fulness of 
 Blessings (expressed by Harvest or Autumn) 
 is expected. Chapter 2. v, 1. Blow the Trum- 
 pet, sound an Alarm; the first gathers the 
 Congregation together, and the latter sounds 
 an Alarm against the Enemy, Numbers 10. 
 7, 9. and serve both here to advise of the 
 coming of the Enemy, and to gather the Con- 
 gregation to the Temple to afflict their Souls. 
 This great. Sounding before the Day of 
 Affliction, answers to the Feast of Trum- 
 pets on the first Day of the Seventh Month,
 
 1 54 OF A NTICHRIST. 
 
 which precedes the great Day of Humilia- 
 tion on the Tenth ; and shows that a Minis- 
 try will go forth to convince the World 
 of Sin, Isaiah 58. 1. call them to a solemn 
 Repentance and Humiliation, and forewarn 
 them and prepare them against the coming 
 of Antichrist, that they may be ready to 
 oppose him. V. 2. A Day of Darkness, &c. 
 See Zephaniah 1. 15. A Fire devour eth before 
 them, and behind them a Flame biirneth. 
 Hence it appears, that they are the same 
 with the Judgments mentioned before, Chap- 
 ter 1. V. 4. otherwise the Land devoured 
 by those, could not have been as Eden before 
 the Face of these. The Fire may be ©ai/olo?, 
 and the Flame "Ah;, which are represented 
 marching together in the Northern Army, 
 Revelatio7is 6. 8. compared with Zechariah 6. 
 3,6; Isaiah 'IQ. 15, 18. It is observable in 
 the same Place of the Revelations, that ©acalo? 
 and "Ah<;, or the Northern Army, destroy by 
 I'our Means, iv pcc[ji.(pocio(,, Iv Xif/Lcc, Iv 3'ai/aTw, and 
 uTTo Tuv ^ripiocv rrig yyig, which, as they are the 
 same mentioned Ezekiel 14. 21. so may they 
 very well correspond to the Four Kinds of 
 Evils enumerated Joel, Chapter 1. 4. it being 
 certain that Antichrist, the End and Accom- 
 plishment of the Four Beasts, contains in him- 
 self, and comes in the Properties of all the 
 Four, Revelations 13. 2. 
 
 V. 4. The Appearance of them is as the Ap- 
 pearance of Horses, Jeremiah 6. 23 ; 8. 16. 
 As Horsemen so shall they run, Ezekiel 28. 4, 
 15; Hahakkuk 1. 8. Expressions denoting 
 their Strengtli and Agility.
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 •JO 
 
 V. 5. He says, They shall he like the Noise 
 of the Flame of Fire that devoureth the Stubble, 
 The Prophet Nahum. says, they shall seem 
 like Torches, they shall run like Lightning', 
 Chapter 2. 4. Fire, Flame, Lightnings, 6fC. 
 being common Metaphors in Scripture, to 
 express the Powers of both the light and dark 
 
 World.* * ^'*^^ Isaiah 
 
 V. 7, 8. They shall run like mighty 3/ew ; ^- ['j |^^'^^' 
 They shall climb the Wall like Men of War, ^\ Zi(^ji,2, 
 &c. Here is an Account of their assaulting 5. ;)/<//. :j. 2. 
 and taking- Jerusalem : under which also mav F.cffus. 3. 0, 
 be comprehended and understood the other '• , I ,^' 
 Cities belonging to the Church of Christ, ^q 
 There is, v. 8. one very remarkable Ex- 
 pression which doth strongly express their 
 Magical Power, that tvhen they fall upon 
 the Sword (or Dart) they shall not be icouuded. 
 Something like that Privilege granted by 
 our Lord to his Apostles, Luke 10. 19. That 
 nothing should by any means hint them. 
 Mark 16. 18. If they should drink Poison, 
 it should not hurt them. That Jerusalem 
 shall be taken in this last and great Inva- 
 sion, is evident from Zechariah 14. 2. Reve- 
 lations 11. 2. 
 
 § 18. If Jerusalem is to be taken, it must of the 
 be re-^ored, and the Temple rebuilt before '^/^'w^" "i 
 this Invasion, and be inhabited by convert- J*^^' »'''''*■'"' 
 ed Jeivs, as will appear by the sequel of 
 this Prophecy. Now the Fathers who talk 
 of Antichrist's sitting Blasphemously in the 
 Temple at Jerusalem, as if he were God, 
 do generally agree that both Tem|)le and 
 City should be rebuilt by Antichrist him-
 
 156 OF AyriCIIRJST. 
 
 self, Vid. Snip. Sev. Dial. 2°. Cyril Hieros. 
 Cat. 15. § 7. Hippolytvs de Consum. p. 12. 
 Edit. BibUoth. Patrum, &c. Upon what Au- 
 thority this Opinion was grounded, I am 
 not able to determine ; but that it is erro- 
 neous I am verily persuaded, particularly 
 by this Exposition of the Prophecy of Joel, 
 which I believe the more it is considered, 
 the more reasonable it will appear. For 
 thereby it is plain, that the Temple shall 
 be standing, and the true Worshippers as- 
 sembled in it at the Approach of Anti- 
 christ, Chapter 1. v. 18. Unless, perhaps, the 
 afore - mentioned Writers meant by Anti- 
 christ, the Eastern false Prophet (whom 
 some of them call by that Name) as he 
 that should rebuild the Temple, and place 
 the Image of the Western Beast in it, which 
 is the Opinion of some. But for my Part 
 I think it more probable, that both shall 
 be rebuilt by the Jews themselves, many 
 of whom no doubt shall be converted by 
 the Ministiy that shall go forth with the 
 Everlasting Gospel a little before the great 
 Desolation, they being instructed in some 
 of those great Truths that have long been 
 hidden under the covering of Darkness 
 and Error, and iinding how far Jerusalem 
 shall be concerned in the great approach- 
 ing Ilevolution, shall retire thither and 
 build up the City and Temple (the Turkish 
 Empire being peihaps at an End, or at 
 least some of those Parts in the Hands of 
 the Christians) where the Christian Wor- 
 ship may be Celebrated in great Purity and
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 157 
 
 Exactness, as may be in a great Measure 
 collected, Daniel 11. 31. where mention is 
 made of the Daily Sacrifice, (viz.) of the 
 Body and Blood of Chiist, whicii shall he 
 then counted as an Essential Part of the 
 Daily Worship, without which (as I be- 
 fore observed) the Service of the Church 
 is Imperfect. (See Mr. Mecles Christian Sa- 
 crifice.) Upon the Approach of the Anti- 
 christian Army an Alarm is Sounded, and 
 Advice is given upon the Cessation of the 
 Daily Sacrifice by reason of the Scarceness 
 of Provisions occasioned by the Multitude 
 of the Armies, and perhaps by a Curse 
 flowing from these Magicians on all sides ; 
 upon this (1 say) advice is given, Chapter 1. 
 V. 1.3. to the Priests to gird themselves and 
 Lament, to lie all Night (or Day and 
 Night) in Sackcloth, to Sanctify a Fast, 
 to call a solemn Assembly, to gather the Elders, 
 and all the Inhabitants of the Land, &c. i. e. 
 to humble themselves, that they may be 
 worthy to escape this Curse, and enjoy the 
 following Blessings, v. 14. See Zephaniah 2. 
 3. From v. 14. it plainly appears, that upon 
 the beginning of the Invasion, before the 
 City shall be taken, the Daily Sacrifice shall 
 be cut off, that being the Signal for the 
 great Humiliation. Chapter 1. 9, 13, &c. 
 The Fruit of this great Humiliation is v. 18. 
 of the Second Chapter, that God will be jealous 
 for his Land, and pity his People, By which 
 it cannot be supposed to be meant that God 
 will immediately oblige the Enemy to re- 
 tire from Jerusalem; no, the City shall be
 
 15« 
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 taken, as v/as observed before, and the Tem- 
 ple, 2 Thessalonians 2. 4. or rather the out- 
 ward Court of the Temple, Revelations 11.2. 
 will be in the Hands of Antichrist, where he 
 will sit as God, to receive Divine Worship. 
 What then is the Advantage of this Humi- 
 liation, if it delivers neither the City nor 
 Temple? Why it is this, that all they that 
 obey and repent, shall deliver their own 
 Souls, and he hid iu the Day of the Lord's 
 Anger, Zephaniah 2. 3. How God shall de- 
 liver them, is hard to determine ; it may be 
 most probably by giving them notice lo de- 
 part, before tiie City is invested, and hiding 
 them in the Deserts or Mountains, where 
 the Enemy cannot find them, as the Prophets 
 were hidden, during Ahab's Apostacy, (a 
 Type of these Times,) 1 Kings 18. 4. Thus 
 Jehoash, the Heir of the Kingdom of Judah, 
 was preserved in the House of the Lord from 
 the Massacre of Athaliah, during the whole 
 six Years (the Number of Affliction) of her 
 Usurpation. 2 Kings 1 1 . 
 So)ne Per- § 19. Here then we see Jerusalem taken 
 isonal Clia- by the Antichristian Army, and Antichrist 
 
 ■buted to An- . . . '^ , ••? • 
 
 lichrist in ^ifying himself as if he ivere God, speaking 
 Scripture, marvellous things against the God of Gods, 
 viz.his Bias- skoicing iiimself that he is God, according to 
 re'ardhr* what was foretold, Daniel 11. 36. 2 Thessa- 
 t he Desire lonians 2. 4. This is no doubt the ultimate 
 of Women; meaning of the Abomination of Desolation 
 his Worship-^ standing in the Holy Place. For what can be 
 ^i"* '^'/^''^a o-reater i\bomination to the Divine Nature, 
 liisdoin"- ^^^^^^ Antichrist, his very Opposite and Ke- 
 
 IVotidcrs.
 
 OF A NTICHRJST. 1 69 
 
 verse? Let us here view him in all those Cha- 
 racters and distingnishing- Marks whereby the 
 Holy Scriptures point him out in his Complete 
 and Perfect State, which 1 presume he must 
 have attained when he is come to this Period. 
 Both the Prophet Daniel, Chapter 11. and 
 also St. Paul, 2 Epistle Tkessalonians 2. 4. 
 and St. John, Revelations 13. foretell that he 
 shall Blasphemously exalt himself above every 
 thing- that is called God, sitting in the Temple, 
 and commanding himself to be Worsiiipped 
 as God. Daniel says, that he shall not regard 
 the desire of Women, by which I understand 
 (notwithstanding all that Dust that Exposi- 
 tors have raised about it) that he shall not 
 marry himself, and shall discourage it in 
 others, (and, perhaps, it was with a peculiar 
 Regard to this that St. Paid, 1 Timothy 4. 
 1, 3. calls the forbidding to marry a Doctrine 
 of Devils, as the place is commonly under- 
 stood,) thereby giving Encouragement to For- 
 nication, and a promiscuous use of ^Vomen. 
 The next thing that Daniel says of him is, 
 that he shall not regard the God of his Fathers, 
 but in his Estate he shall Worship the God of 
 3Iaozzim. Concerning this there are various />^/«.ii. 3>?, 
 Conjectures of Learned Men, some taking it 
 for Mars, others for Hercules, others for 
 Jupiter Olympius the Abomination of Antio- 
 chus, others applying it to the Papacy make 
 it to be the Saints and Angels which the Ro- 
 manists Worship with Divine Honom-s, others . 
 make it to be the Mass itself. The Learn- 
 ed Seldeti, after the most diligent Inquiry, 
 chooses rather to be silent, as lindiuu" no-
 
 1(J0 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Wmyy among the Eastern Gods, to uliich he 
 could vvitli any pmbabiUty affix the Name 
 
 Maozzim. Deuni Mnozzim prcelenni- 
 
 simus, tit plane ignolum alifer ac locus ills 
 unicus S. HistoricE indicat. De Dijs Syr. 
 Synt. 11. c. 17. It is no improbable Conjec- 
 ture that it is the Devil himself, represented 
 by the Dragon, the Author and Giver of all 
 that Diabolical Power which is exercised by 
 both the Beast and False Prophet, Revela- 
 tions 1.3, 2. In the mean time (says a Learned 
 Man) 1 am inclined to believe that his 
 Name may have in it some magical mean- 
 ing, and that it may ultimately refer to the 
 Forces and Powers of Nature, as awakened 
 by those that are skilled in the natural and 
 ceremonial Parts of that secret Art, and as 
 particularly applied to the Principle of Dark- 
 ness and Wrath, and alienated from that 
 of Light and Love. Besides this, Daniel 
 observes that he shall be a Man of great 
 Craft and Cunning, that he shall understand 
 dark Sentences, all the Difficulties of Arts 
 and Scitnces, which will be an accomplish- 
 ment very necessary for the great Business 
 he undertakes. But the great and remark- 
 able Observation that all of them make is, 
 that he shall be wonderfully skilled in the 
 dark Magic, and thereby do strange Wonders 
 to deceive and delude Mankind. Thus our 
 Blessed Saviour, 3Iatt/ieiv 24. 24. says that 
 , the false Christs and false Prophets (and no 
 doubt chiefly the last false Christ and false 
 Prophet) shall s/iotv great Signs and Wonders, 
 insomuch that if it were possible they should de-
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. J 61 
 
 ceive the very Elect, much more shall the 
 Prince and Ruler of them, Antichrist him- 
 self. St. Paul, 2 Thessalonians 2. 9, 10. says, 
 that his comiiio; shall he after the ivorkins!- of 
 Aatan, with all Power, and Signs, and lying 
 Wonders, &c. St. John, Revelations 13. 13, 
 14. is so particular as to tell us what sort of 
 Wonders he shall perform, viz. that he shall 
 make Fire come doivn from Heaven on Earth 
 in the sight of 3Ien; i. e. the Earth-bred 
 Beast or False Prophet by his Power. Be- 
 sides his healing the deadly Wound, and 
 making- the Image of the Beast speak and 
 deliver Oracles, as we have mentioned before. 
 These are the most remarkable personal 
 Qualities attributed to him in Scripture. The 
 last of these, viz. his doing wonderful and 
 miraculous Works is largely attested by the 
 Holy Fathers. The Sybilline Oracles, Lib. 3. 
 speak largely to this purpose, that Antichrist 
 shall remove Mountains, stop the Courses of 
 the Sun and Moon, raise the Dead, &c. St. 
 Hippolytus, p. 30. Edit. Morell. says, * He 
 ' shall remove Mountains in the Sight of 
 ' Men, he shall pass through the Sea dry- 
 ' shod, he shall call down Fire from Heaven, 
 ' he shall change Day into Night and INight 
 
 * into Day, and alter the Course of the 
 ' Sun at his Pleasure. (And elsewhere) He 
 ' shall make his attendant dark Spirits ap- 
 
 * pear like glorious Angels of Light; he 
 
 * shall bring with him innumerable Legions 
 
 * of Spirits, and in the Sight of all Men shall 
 ' seem to be taken up into Heaven, with the 
 
 * Sound of Trumpets and Shoutings of his 
 
 M
 
 162 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 * Followers, he shall fly to and fro in the 
 
 * Air, and descend again upon Earth with 
 
 * great Glory,' &c. Ephrem Sp^us, in his 
 * Edit. Co- Discourse de Antichristo* gives a particular 
 Ion. 1603. Description of his removing Mountains; 
 P' ^^^' adding, that he shall seem to remove an 
 
 Island out of the Sea to the dry Land, that 
 he shall gather together an innumerable 
 Company of Serpents, and ravenous Birds, 
 that he shall walk upon the Sea as upon dry 
 Land, &c. To these might be added the 
 Testimonies of Lactantius and others, which 
 I omit as being nothing else but Repetitions 
 of the same Things. One Thing I cannot 
 pass by upon this Head without a particular 
 Remark, which is that St. John mentions 
 particularly, the Miracle of bringing down 
 Fire from Heaven, which was no doubt 
 for some particular Reason. It is to be no- 
 ted then that all Sorts of miraculous Ope- 
 rations were comprehended under these two 
 Denominations, viz. Signs in the Heights 
 above, and Signs in the Depths helow, Isaiah 7. 
 11. Now it was (and no doubt still is) the 
 Opinion of the Jews, that to work Signs 
 in the Heights above was a true Proof of 
 Divine Power and Authority, therefore they 
 desired of our Blessed Lord to show them 
 a Sign from. Heaven, or the Heights above, 
 Matthew 10. 1. as a Proof of his Divinity. At 
 which Request of theirs, St. Mark 8. 12. 
 says, our Lord sighed deeply in Spirit, no doubt 
 bewailing the Hardness of their Hearts (and 
 probably considering within himself how 
 fatal to them that Persuasion of theirs
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 163 
 
 would be hereafter, when by that Means 
 Antichrist should deceive them). And St. 
 Luke, Chapter 11. v. 29. says, our Lord was 
 so far from gratifying them, that he assured 
 them 710 Sig7i skoiild he given them but the Sign 
 of Jonas the Prophet, which we know was in 
 the Depths below. And the Holy Spirit 
 foreseeing that this Opinion would again 
 prevail in the World, tells us, by Way of 
 Caution, that that Deceiver Antichrist should 
 be able to bring down Fire from Heaven; 
 i. e. the Heights above, that so when he shall 
 show that Sign, it may be so far from de- 
 ceiving us into an Opinion of his being the 
 Messiah, that it shall be to us a sure Token 
 that he is the Antichrist. 
 
 § 20. Now what a State must we imagine The State 
 the World to be in, when God shall suffer of the World 
 them to be governed by such a Ruler ^^otthatTime, 
 this, when the Powers of Darkness shall be 
 thus let loose, and the Devil himself shall 
 reign corporally, himself ruling in chief, 
 and sending forth on all sides innumerable 
 Persons impregnated with his own diabo- 
 lical Spirit, Blasphemers of God and Haters 
 of good Men, mighty in the Powers of 
 Darkness, to be as his Deputies and Vice- 
 roys to rule and domineer in distant Pro- 
 vinces and Countries. I tremble to read 
 the dismal and terrible Account that both 
 the Holy Scriptures and Ancient Writers 
 give of those Times ; this will most cer- 
 tainly be that Time of Trouble, such as 
 never was since God made Man upon Earth, 
 nor ever shall be afterwards : For the very 
 
 M 2
 
 164 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Foundations of the Natural, Moral, and Poli- 
 tical World shall be destroyed and cast 
 down. His Conquest of the Kings and 
 Nations of the Eastern and Western Empire 
 we have already considered ; besides which, 
 the Prophet Daniel assures us, that he shall 
 stretch forth his Hand upon other Countries; 
 that he shall have Power over the Treasures of 
 Gold and Silver, and over all the precious 
 Things of Egypt ; and the Lyhians and Ethio- 
 pians shall he at his steps. His horrible Con- 
 tempt of God and Profanation of Religion we 
 have seen, setting himself in the Temple of 
 God, and not suffering the daily Sacrifice, 
 nor any Christian Solemnities to be ob- 
 served. As to the Natural World, we know 
 that the Devil is emphatically styled The 
 Prince of the Power of the Air, Ephesians 2. 1. 
 and as such has, no doubt, by the Permission 
 of God, a Power of raising Disorders and 
 Commotions there ; and especially at this 
 Time, when by the Divine Nemesis this 
 whole visible Sphere of Nature will be 
 abandoned and delivered over to the over- 
 flowings of the Curse. Antichrist, there- 
 fore, and his magical Attendants and Fol- 
 lowers, shall make strange Confusions and 
 Alterations in external Nature ; terrible 
 Earthquakes, Storms, Thunders, Lightnings, 
 &c. and, according to their exact Know- 
 ledge of the active and passive Qualities 
 of Nature, may, according to some secret 
 Rules of their diabolical Art, so temper 
 them, as to raise poisonous malignant 
 Ferments in the Air, Earth, or Water,
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 165 
 
 so as to spread pestilential Influences all 
 round, to ravage not only a Town, but a 
 Country or a Kingdom. Such dark Magi- 
 cians there are already some in the World ; 
 but (God be praised) we are not yet aban- 
 doned to their Fury. The Measure of our 
 Iniquities is not as yet quite full ; but 
 that we are not very far off from that 
 fatal Period, we have but too much Reason 
 to fear. Whilst the Powers of Darkness 
 are thus afflicting the Church, i. e. those 
 Christians who have not so far wrought 
 out their Salvation, as to be out of the 
 reach of the Enemy, as it is plain some 
 shall be ; the Vengeance of God shall by 
 his Instruments, the two Witnesses, vex and 
 torment the Antichristian Company. These 
 two Witnesses (of whom more hereafter) 
 being endued with Power to devour their 
 Enemies, with Fire proceeding out of their 
 Mouths. These have also Power to shut 
 Heaven that it rain not in the Days of their 
 Prophecy, Revelations 11. 5, 6. that is, for 
 three Years and a half: Even as it was done 
 by Elijah in the Days of that wicked Prince 
 Ahab, which were no doubt a Type of these 
 Times. Compare i Kings \1. 1. w'\i\i James 
 5. 17. So that from hence must proceed great 
 Famine and want of Provisions ; to which 
 the following Quotations do frequently allude. 
 Hear the dismal Account St. Hippolytus gives 
 of those Days. ' Hear,' saith he, ' ye that 
 ' love God, what Affliction there shall be 
 ' in those Days. That evil One (viz. Anti- 
 * Christ) shall gather together evil Spirits
 
 166 OF ANTICHRIST, 
 
 * in human Shapes, and shall mock and 
 
 * insult over the Jews who have made him 
 ' their King, and shall set Devils to be 
 ' Princes over them. And when the Famine 
 ' shall be sore upon them, the Heavens 
 ' being shut up, then (says he) he shall 
 ' send forth his Messengers, both Men and 
 
 * evil Spirits, saying, There is a great King 
 
 * risen upon the Ei.rth, come ye and wor- 
 ' ship him, and behold his Power, he shall 
 ' give you Bread to eat, and Wine to drink, 
 ' with great Riches and Honours. Again, 
 
 * Then (says he) shall he send forth Le- 
 ' gions of evil Spirits into the Mountains, 
 
 * and Dens, and Caves of the Earth, to 
 
 * search out them that have hid themselves 
 
 * from him, and shall bring them to wor- 
 ' ship him ; and those that obey him, he 
 ' shall Seal with his Marl^ ; but those that 
 ' refuse, shall he punish with unheard of 
 
 * Torments. Then they that have received 
 ' his Mark, and cannot find either Bread 
 ' or Water, shall come to him, and with a 
 ' sorrowful Voice shall say. Give us Meat 
 ' and Drink, we languish for Hunger and 
 ' Thirst, command the Heavens to give us 
 ' Rain, and drive away from us the rave- 
 
 * nous Beasts. Then shall he mock them 
 ' and say, The Heavens refuse to give us 
 
 * Rain, the Earth will not bring forth 
 ' Fruit, Whence shall I supply you? When 
 
 * they hear this Answer, then shall they 
 ' lament and bewail their Misery, and with 
 
 * Sighs and Tears shall call upon that 
 ' merciful God that shall deliver them out
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 167 
 
 of his Hands, and l)y an invisible Power 
 protect those that call upon him wor- 
 thily. So great shall be the Trouble of 
 that Time, that in the Morning they 
 shall wish for Evening ; and as soon as 
 the Darkness of the Night shall cover 
 them, they shall be so terrified with 
 Earthquakes, Storms, and Tempests, that 
 they shall long for Morning. The whole 
 Earth shall bewail a Life so full of Mise- 
 ries. The Sea shall mourn ; the Earth 
 shall mourn ; the Sun in the Firmament 
 of Heaven, the Beasts of the Earth, the 
 Fowls of Heaven, the very Mountains 
 and Hills shall mourn for the Miseries 
 of Mankind, because all have forsaken 
 their God. The Churches shall mourn 
 with great Lamentation, for there shall 
 be neither Offering nor Holy Worship in 
 those Days : Churches shall be as Stables ; 
 nor shall the precious Sacrifice of the 
 Body and Blood of Christ be celebrated 
 in those Days : There shall be no Pray- 
 ers, no singing of Psalms, nor shall the 
 Scriptures be read. (A little after.) With- 
 out shall be Fear, within Trembling ; 
 both at Home and Abroad dreadful Scenes 
 of Horroi-, Hunger and Thirst, Lamen- 
 tation and Sighing. The fine Faces shall 
 languish. Paleness shall cover the beau- 
 tiful Countenances. The Charms of Women 
 shall vanish.' And in many other Instances 
 
 does he describe the Horrors of that time. 
 
 So also Lactantius:* ' Then shall the Cities * Lib. 7. 
 
 p. 650.
 
 168 
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 ' be utterly ruined and destroyed, by Fire, 
 ' Sword, Earthquakes, Inundations, Famines, 
 
 * and Pestilences. The Air shall be cor- 
 
 * riipted and pestilential ; sometimes there 
 ' shall be scorching Heats, then pinching 
 
 * Cold, &c. so that the Earth shall not 
 
 * bring forth Fruit; the Corn shall be blight- 
 
 * ed ; the Trees and Vines shall fail. The 
 ' Springs and Rivers shall be dried up ; so 
 
 * that the Beasts shall die upon the Earth, 
 ' the Fowls in the Air, and the Fishes in 
 ' the Sea.' A little after he speaks of the 
 False Prophet ; how that he shall seal those 
 that obey him ; shall burn the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, and make the World desolate for 
 forty-two Months, &c. St. Cyril of Jeru- 
 salem^ Cat. 15. after he had spoken largely 
 of Antichrist, adds, ' This is the cruel 
 
 Beast, the great Dragon, fighting against 
 Mankind, being ready to devour them ; 
 therefore the Lord knowing the Power 
 of the Adversary, commanded the Chris- 
 tians that should live in those Days, to 
 flee to the Mountains, Matthew 24. 16. But 
 if any one knoweth that he hath Strength 
 enough to resist the Devil, let him stay ; 
 for I do not despair of the Strength of 
 the Church: But let the fearful take 
 heed to themselves, for then shall be Tri- 
 bulation, such as never was since the 
 Beginning of the Creation to this pre- 
 sent Time, nor never shall be.' ' My dear 
 Brethren,' (says Ephrem Syrus, Serm. de 
 Antichristo, p. 222.) ' then shall there be
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 169 
 
 a great Trial upon all Men, but especially 
 the Faithful and the Saints, and great 
 Tribulation shall there be in those Days, 
 when great Signs and Wonders shall be 
 wrought by the Power of that hellish 
 Beast, Antichrist.' (A little after.) ' Who, 
 my Brethren, amongst you all, shall be 
 found at that Day so completely armed 
 with the Shield of Faith, as to be fully 
 persuaded in his Mind, that the Coming 
 of the Son of God is nigh, when he shall 
 see this inexpressible Tribulation upon 
 every Soul of Man, without any Allay 
 of Rest or Comfort ; when thou shalt 
 see the whole World in Confusion (for 
 every one shall flee to the Mountains for 
 shelter); when thou shalt see some pe- 
 rishing for Hunger, others languishing with 
 intolerable Thirst, and none to pity them?' 
 
 (A little after.) ' There shall be at that 
 time no Rest upon the Earth, but great 
 Tribulation, Trouble and Confusion, Fa- 
 mine and Death, in all the Corners of 
 the Earth. Then shall the Saints shed 
 Rivers of Tears, and flee to the Deserts. 
 They shall hide themselves in the Moun- 
 tains, and in the Valleys, covering their 
 Heads with Dust and Ashes, praying to 
 be delivered from the Beast. The Moun- 
 tains, the Hills, and Trees of the World 
 shall mourn. The Lights of Heaven shall 
 mourn, because Men have forsaken their 
 God, and believed the Deceiver, &c.' And 
 
 in many other Instances does likewise this
 
 170 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Holy Father elegantly bewail the Miseries 
 of that Time : As does also St. Augustiuy 
 Lib. 20. Cap. 8. St. Jerom in the 11th and 
 12th Chapters of Daniel, St. Cyril, Lib. 11. 
 in Genesis. St. Gregory, Lib. 14. Moral, and 
 Lib. 32. Cap. 12. 
 Some Oh- § 21. Upon the aforegoing Quotations 
 servations \ cannot but observe, I. That Hippolylus 
 p^ecedin ^sserts, that the Mei^ns whereby the Church 
 Quotations, (^^ Christians of that time, which are not 
 and concern- counted worthy to escape) shall be deceived 
 tng the by Antichrist, will be by his offering them 
 ^"Jj/'^'^'Food in that great Famine. Which same 
 thing is attested by Anastasius Sinaita (Con- 
 tempi, in Hexaemer. Tom. I. Hib. Patr. 
 p. 327.) in these Words : ' God said to the 
 ' Serpent, He shall bruise thy head, and thou 
 
 * shalt bruise his heel; i. e. The extreme 
 ' Parts of the Body of Christ, which is his 
 ' Church ; so that the Heel shall be the 
 
 * Presence of Antichrist in the last Times ; 
 ' and the evil Serpent waits for that Time, 
 
 * when he may again supplant the Church 
 ' by offering them Food, when there shall 
 ' be a great Famine.' So that they who 
 have not Faith to believe that Man doth 
 not live by JBread alone, but by every Word 
 that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God, shall 
 not have Patience to expect God's Accom- 
 plishment of his Promises, that God will 
 at last be Jealous for his Land, and pity his 
 People, and send them Corn, and Wine, 
 and Oil, to satisfy them therewith, Joel 
 2. 18, 19. They, I say, that will not for
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. J7J 
 
 this wait upon God, shall transo;ress the 
 Law of their God, and poUute the Holy 
 One, for handfuls of Barley and pieces of 
 Bread, Ezekiel 13. 19. II. That those who 
 thus Apostatize and go over to the Enemy, 
 shall be sealed with the Mark of the Beast; 
 concerning which the Holy Scriptures and 
 Fathers speak expressly, only with this dif- 
 ference, that as the Scripture attributes this 
 Sealing to the Eastern Beast, or False Pro- 
 phet, Revelations 13. 16. The Fathers attri- 
 bute it to Antichrist himself; understanding, 
 I suppose, the False Prophet, as being in 
 the Spirit of Antichrist, to be as the Instru- 
 ment by which he Seals them (even as we 
 are sealed by the Spirit of God to the Day 
 of Redemption, Ephesians 4. 30.) That the 
 Impression of this Seal, and the Number of 
 the Beast, are both one, is generally sup- 
 posed by Ancient Writers, (as may be seen 
 at large,) who therefore use them promis- 
 cuously. But what that Seal, Mark, or 
 Number is, or wherein it consists, is hard 
 to determine. Most of the Ancients sup- 
 posed that it was to be a Name composed 
 of the numeral Letters which compose QQQ. 
 Of which sort many are reckoned up by 
 Hippolytus, IrencBus, and others, to the Num- 
 ber of Sixteen or Seventeen, many of which 
 are most violently drawn in ; and there is 
 indeed so great a Latitude in that way of 
 Interpretation, that some of the later Writers 
 of the Church of Rome have made Luther 
 and Calvin bear the Name of the Beast :
 
 172 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 And when Monsieur Jurieu, Minister of the 
 French Church at Rotterdam, upon the Autho- 
 rity of Irenceus, had asserted that AalsiVo? 
 was it, his Adversaries found that Rotterdam 
 was comprised in the same Number, and 
 asserted that to be the Name of the Beast. 
 In short, by this way we may make any 
 thing out of any thing; for which very Rea- 
 son Hippolytus, p. 39. owns he does not un- 
 derstand it. A very probable Hypothesis 
 was that of the Learned Dr. Potter, who 
 asserted that the counting of it consists in 
 extracting the Root of it, which is 25, that 
 being the only Number, which, by being mul- 
 tiplied into itself, makes the Square Number 
 QQQ, when the Fraction (which is 41 in this 
 Operation) is added to it, which is what is 
 meant by the Square Root of a Number. 
 And this, as for many other Reasons reck- 
 oned up by that excellent Writer, so espe- 
 cially for this, that the Number 25 has always 
 been esteemed by Sacred and Profane Wri- 
 ters, who had never thought of Antichrist or 
 his Kingdom, to be mysteriously Evil; and 
 to be an Hieroglyphical Character of some 
 unhappy, desperate, deplorable, and apostate 
 State of the Church, because it is an oddly 
 uneven Number, which is unevenly measured 
 by an odd Number, so uneven indeed, that 
 no square perfect Number can arise out of 
 it, but wliat is made up of fractional Addi- 
 tions. Whereas, on the contrary, the Num- 
 ber 12, the Root of the Pure Church, is an 
 even Number making 144,000, its Square
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 1 73 
 
 perfectly and entirely, to show the Perfec- 
 tion, Entireness, and Agreeableness of its 
 Foundation and Structure. And this way 
 of counting or calculating this Number (a 
 venerable Piece of the Ancient Oriental 
 Learning) is certainly much more agreeable 
 to the sublime Style of this Mysterious Book, 
 than the forming technical Words out of 
 numeral Letters, which is a Piece of Wisdom 
 not so profound as that which I believe is 
 referred to, Revelations 13. 18. But the most 
 probable Opinion is, that as the Number 
 Seven is the Number of Rest and Perfec- 
 tion, as may be largely seen in Holy Scrip- 
 tures ; so the Number Six signifies Labour, 
 Affliction, and Persecution: Six being the 
 Days of Labour preceding the Seventh Day 
 of Rest and Refreshment. So we have seen, 
 Ezekiel 9. there were Six Persons appointed 
 to execute Vengeance upon the Apostate 
 Church, whereas the Business of the Seventh 
 was to set the Mark of Deliverance upon 
 those that were to be preserved from De- 
 struction. So as we before observed, the 
 Usurpation of Athaliah lasted six Years, 
 when in the seventh Year Jehoiada the Priest 
 made a Covenant with the Rulers of the 
 Army, and destroyed that wicked Woman, 
 and Jelioash was established on his Throne. 
 Many other Instances might be produced to 
 strengthen this Observation, but these shall 
 suffice : This Number then thrice repeated, 
 may express the most desperate and deplora- 
 ble State of the Church.
 
 174 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Of the two ^ 22. Whilst Antichrist shall be thus 
 Witnesses, domineering and lording it over the Earth, 
 God hath promised to send forth his Two 
 Witnesses, who shall prophecy and bear their 
 Testimony against him ; and not only that, 
 but torment him and his Followers for the 
 space of 1260 Days, or 42 Months, the 
 whole Space of the Antichristian Kingdom, 
 Revelations 1 1 . That by these Two Witnesses 
 are meant Enoch and Elias, who never saw 
 Death, but were translated alive, was a com- 
 mon Opinion of the Fathers : Of Hippolytus 
 in these Words, ' As John the Baptist was 
 ' the Forerunner of our Blessed Lord's First 
 ' Coming, so shall Enoch and Elias be of 
 * Lih. de ' his Second.' Tertullian,* ' Enoch and Elias 
 Anima, Cap. < ^gj-e translated and never saw Death, but 
 ' are reserved to the time of the End, that 
 
 * they may destroy Antichrist by their Blood.' 
 St. Cyprian, in his Tract, de Montib. Sion 
 
 t P. 36. et Sina;'f * Enoch was translated alive to a 
 opusc. Edit. < certain Place known to God, and shall 
 Oxon. i come from thence to oppose and confound 
 
 ' Antichrist.' Ephrem Syrus, Serm. de Anti- 
 christo ; ' The merciful God shall send Enoch 
 ' and Elias, who shall preach to the Peo- 
 ' pie, and warn them not to believe Anti- 
 
 * Christ, boldly crying out and saying. This 
 ' is Antichrist the Deceiver, the Son of Per- 
 
 * dition ; O ye Men, let none of you believe 
 ' him, or hearken to this Tyrant fighting 
 
 * against God : Be not afraid of him, for he 
 ' shall soon be destroyed, and his Power 
 ' broken.' St. Ambrose upon that Passage, 
 1 Corinthians 4. 9. / think that God hath
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 176 
 
 set forth us the Apostles, SfC. says, ' Thus 
 
 * Enoch and Elias, that shall be the Apos- 
 
 * ties of the last Times, must suffer many 
 
 * Persecutions and Afflictions, for they must 
 ' be sent before to prepare the People of 
 
 * God, and to strengthen the Churches.' St. 
 Jerom;* * We shall say nothing in this Place * Ep. 148. 
 ' concerning Enoch and Ellas, of whom St. J"^ Marcel- 
 
 ' John in his Revelation witnesseth, that they ^^' 
 
 * shall come again upon Earth and die.' 
 The same (in short) is affirmed by St. Angus- 
 tin, Lib. 9. de Gen. Cap. 6. by Prosper, de 
 dimid. Temp. Cap. 13. by St. Gregory, in 
 Job, Lib. 9. Cap. 4. by Damascen, de Jide 
 Orthodoxd, Lib. 4. Cap. 27. Aretas CcBsari- 
 ensis, in 11 Apoc. &c. And as for the Coming 
 of Elias, the Holy Scriptures themselves seem 
 plainly to assert it. For thus saith God by 
 the Prophet Malachi, Chapter 4. 5. Behold I 
 will send you Elias the Prophet before the 
 great and terrible Day of the Lord come, he 
 shall turn the Heart of the Fathers to the 
 Children, and the Heart of the Children to 
 the Fathers, lest I come and smite the Earth 
 with a Curse. In which Place the Expres- 
 sions of the great and terrible Day of the 
 Lord, and of smiting the Earth with a Curse, 
 do, I think, chiefly (if not only) relate to his 
 Second Coming; for that his First Appear- 
 ance, in the Form of a Servant, cannot with 
 any tolerable Congruity be called Great or 
 Terrible; and he came not then to perform 
 any Judicial Acts, but what were purely 
 Spiritual, the Judging of the Earth being the 
 grand Design of his Second Coming. To
 
 170 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 this it is objected, that our Blessed Lord ex- 
 pressly asserted, that Elias there meant was 
 already come, Matthew 17. 12. To which I 
 answer, That our Lord meant no more than 
 that John the Baptist, the Poiver and Spirit of 
 Elias, or Elias in the Spirit was come, but 
 not in the Body ; in which that he was yet to 
 appear before his Second Coming, our Saviour 
 himself doth not deny, but rather plainly 
 assert. For when the Disciples taking our 
 Saviour's Words in too large a Sense, asked 
 him, How then say the Scribes that Elias must 
 first come? Our Lord answers, that Elias 
 shall come, and shall restore all Things ; which 
 Words being spoken in the future Tense, can- 
 not be applied to John the Baptist, who was 
 already come, but had not restored all Things, 
 which is still reserved to the Couiing of Elias 
 in Person at the End of the World, or the 
 times of Restitution of all Things, which God 
 has spoken by the Mouth of all his Prophets 
 since the World began, Acts 3. 21. And the 
 Author of the Book of Ecclus. 48. 10. seems 
 plainly to understand the Prophecy of Malachiy 
 concerning the Person of Elias, of whom 
 he had been speaking, saying, that he was 
 ordained for Reproofs in their times, to pacify 
 the Wrath of the Lord's Judgement, before it 
 break forth into Fury ; and to turn the Heart 
 of the Father to the So7i, and to restore the 
 Tribes of Israel. — These then are the two Olive- 
 Trees, atid the two Candlesticks, standing be- 
 fore the God of the Eai^th, Revelations 11. 4. 
 Zechariah 4. 3. called Olive-Trees from the 
 Divine Unction, as being anointed Kings and
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 1 7 7 
 
 Priests in Christ's Kini2:dom ; and Candle- 
 sticks, as bearing in them the burning and 
 shining Light of the Spirit of Truth, who is 
 the Light of the World ; in which Sense the 
 Seven Churches, Kevelations 1. 20. are also 
 called Candlesticks. And whereas Grotius 
 upon the Place, has brought it as an Argu- 
 ment to prove, that hereby are not meant 
 Two Persons, but Two Churches, because 
 they are called Candlesticks, which the Angel 
 interprets to be Churches, Revelations 1. 20. 
 we have, I think, as good a Reason to con- 
 clude they are Persons, because they are 
 called Olive-Trees, which Zechariah 4. 14. 
 are interpreted of Two Persons, Joshnah and 
 Zeruhbabel. Many Scripture Characters of par- 
 ticular Persons being applicable to Churches, 
 (as may be shown at large,) and vice versa. 
 But to proceed, in St. Johns Account of these 
 Two Witnesses, If any Man ivill hurt these 
 (Revelations 11. 5.) i.e. make any Attempt 
 upon their Persons, either by natural or magi- 
 cal Violence, Fire proceedeth out of their 
 Mouth (a plain Allusion to what Elijah did, 
 2 Kin^s 1 .) and devourelh their Enemies ; and 
 if any Man will hurt them, he must in this 
 manner be killed. V. 6. These have Poiver to 
 shut Heaven that it rain not in the Hays of 
 their Prophecy; (plainly alluding to what 
 Elijah did, 1 Kings 17. 1; 18. 1, 41. as in 
 the following Words to Moses turning the 
 Waters into Blood. Exodus 1. 17.) and have 
 Power over Waters to turn them into Elood, 
 and to smite the Earth with all Plagues as 
 often as they will. Which Words may, I 
 
 N
 
 178 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 think, fairly be understood in a literal Sense, 
 without any Violence to the Text or the 
 Nature of Things. V. 7. And ivhen they shall 
 have finished their Testimony, the Beast that 
 ascends out of the bottomless Pit (i. e. Anti- 
 christ) shall make War against them, (with 
 more Violence than before,) and shall over- 
 come them and kill them. V. 8. And their dead 
 Bodies shall lie in the Streets (i. e. in one of 
 the Streets, by an usual Hebraism) of the 
 great City which spiritually is called Sodom 
 and Egypt, where also our Lord luas crucified. 
 This great City is unquestionably Jerusalem, 
 called Sodom, Isaiah 1. 10. and may possibly 
 be meant by Egypt in many Places of pro- 
 phetical Scripture. But that which puts it 
 beyond all doubt is, that distinguishing Cha- 
 racter of being the Place ivhere our Lord was 
 crucified, which has been most violently wrest- 
 ed by our Modern Expositors to signify 
 Rome, or Christendom. V. 9. And they of the 
 People and Kindreds, and Tongues and Na- 
 tions, shall see their dead Bodies three Days 
 and half, and shall not suffer their dead Bodies 
 to be put in Graves. God in this respect 
 making their Madness subservient to his Glory. 
 For by being thus exposed in the open Street, 
 their Resurrection and Ascension shall be the 
 more visible and conspicuous to all that 
 behold them. V. 10. And they that dwell 
 upon the Earth (i. e. the Antichristian Com- 
 pany) shall rejoice over them, and shall make 
 merry and send Gifts to one another, (as in 
 time of public Joy, Esther 9. 19, 22. Nehe- 
 miah 8. 10-12.) because these two Prophets
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 179 
 
 tormented them that dwell on the Earth; (as 
 the Prophets, and particularly Elijah, were 
 said to trouble wicked Kings and People, 
 1 Kings 18. 17, 18; 21. '10.) V. 11. And 
 after three Days atid half, the Spirit of Life 
 from God entered into them, and they stood 
 Kpon their Feet, and great Fear fell ujjon all 
 them that saw them. V. 12. And they heard 
 a Voice from Heaven, saying unto them. Come 
 up hither; and they ascended up to Heaven in a 
 Cloud, and their Enemies beheld them. V. 13. 
 And the same Hour teas there a great Earth- 
 quake, and the tenth part of the City fell ; and 
 in the Earthqtiake icere slain of 3Ien Seven 
 Thousand, and the Remnant were affrighted, 
 and gave Glory to God. By Seven Thousand 
 Names, as it is in the Original, may be meant 
 Seven Thousand, or perhaps an indefinite 
 great Number, of the Chief* or Principal * That is, 
 Members of the Antichristian Kin2,dom, Gene- ^;^" 
 
 T 7 «^ rrti 1 Trr • ^ -Name, or 
 
 SIS 6. 4 ; J 00 30. 8. I he second rvoe is past, Henown ; 
 the third cometh quickly. Revelations 1 1. 14. opposed to 
 But here it may be objected, If the Witnesses Men of no 
 Prophecy 1260 Days, and the Times of the ^^J^j^^J^^S" 
 Beast are 42 Months, which are the same „^^ ^„oj^„ j„ 
 space of time differently expressed, for thsit the World bj/ 
 in 42 Months, or three' Years and half, 1 2()0 their Acts. 
 Days are comprehended ; then the Destruc- 
 tion of Antichrist must synchronize with the 
 Death of the Witnesses, which cannot be, be- 
 cause the Death of the Witnesses is the End 
 of the second Woe, and then what time shall 
 we allot to the third Woe, or the pouring 
 out of the Seven Vials, which is all trans- 
 acted within the times of Antichrist, since 
 
 N 2
 
 180 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 he is to live till the pouring out of the last 
 Vial, when Rome or BabylofL shall be de- 
 stroyed by the Earthquake, and the Beast 
 and False Prophet being taken at the Battle 
 of Armageddoyi, shall be cast into the Lake 
 burning with Fire and Brimstone, Revelations 
 11. 14; 19. 20. To this several Answers 
 have been given. Some suppose that by the 
 42 Months, whereby the Times of the Beast 
 are measured, are meant Lunar Months 
 (the Moon being the Regent and Gover- 
 ness of the Night or Darkness, a proper 
 Emblem of Antichristianism, 1 Thessalonians 5. 
 5; Proverbs 4. 19; Epiiesians 5. 11, &c.) 
 which do not amount to three Solar Years and 
 a half, by the space of about twenty Days, 
 which they allot to the third Woe; and be- 
 sides that, the shortness of the Time allotted 
 for its Completion is hinted at by the Expres- 
 sion of coming quickly, or speedily, Revela- 
 tions 11. 14. Others, with greater probability, 
 would even truly suppose, that the Witnesses 
 shall begin their Testimony before the Beast's 
 Reign, and shall by their Preaching pre- 
 pare the World against his Coming ; and 
 that, though they should both be the same 
 space, yet the one commencing before the 
 other, must by consequence end before it; 
 and so the void space of the latter Period 
 may be allotted to the third Woe, or last 
 Vials. And better Accounts may probably 
 be given by those who are more exercised 
 in the Knowledge of adjusting Times and 
 Seasons, which 1 am not much concerned
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 181 
 
 about, as being not essential to the Truths 
 I am contending for. 
 
 § 23. The Death of the Witnesses seems The Death 
 to be the last Instance or Act of Antichris- 'J/''''^ " jj- 
 tian Cruelty, and seems to determine a cer-l'll^^^Hllr 
 
 4. • n • 1 • 1 ■ 1 1 /^-(i 1 • f , the t.na of 
 
 tarn Period m which the Church is perfected, the Beast's 
 and fixed in a State of Triumph and Secu- Reign. 
 rity, represented by a Sea of Glass mingled 
 ivith Fire, ivliereupon 'were staiidifii{ those 
 that had gotten the Victory over the Beast, 
 and over his Image, and over his 3Tark, and 
 over the Number of his Name, having the 
 Harps of God, and singing the Song of 
 Moses the Servant of God, and the Song of 
 the Lamb:* As on the other hand those * Rev.lb. 
 that had worshipped the Beast and received *^' 3. 
 his Mark, seem to be perfected in the Mys- 
 tery of Iniquity, and are accordingly repre- 
 sented as ripe for Vengeance, and the full 
 Measure of the Wrath of God poured out of 
 the Seven Vials, Revelations 15. 1 ; 10. 1. 
 And I cannot but think that the serious Con- 
 templation of this notable Period will afford 
 us a more effectual Solution of the above- 
 mentioned Difficulty (viz. the Times of the 
 Third Woe) than any nice Disquisitions in 
 Chronology. I. Then the Forty-two Months 
 of the Beast, Revelations 1.3. 5. do not seem to 
 limit his duration or Continuance under the 
 Notion and Character of a temporal Prince 
 or Governor, but as he is more emphatically 
 Antichrist, an Opposer of God and Persecu- 
 tor of his Church ; and this seems to be the 
 true Import of the Word Troj^Vfi in the Ori- 
 ginal ; (i. e.) he shall act in his Antichristian
 
 182 OF ANTICHRIST, 
 
 Spirit and Power, opposing and persecuting 
 the Church. And so the Marginal Read- 
 ings of the English Bible render it, he shall 
 make War. So then when the Church shall 
 be delivered and his Persecution shall be at 
 an end, as it is Revelations 15. 2, 3. He may 
 then be properly said h ttouTv, and his Forty- 
 two Months be expired; and so the short- 
 ening of the Time observed by the Evange- 
 lists, is with a peculiar Regard to the Vio- 
 lence of the Persecution, Matthew 24. 21, 22. 
 3Iark 13. 19, 20. which Persecution must 
 end, and the Church be in Peace before 
 the pouring out of the Vials, though he him- 
 self must continue till the Effusion of the 
 last, as was before observed. II. The Pro- 
 phecy ing of the Witnesses 1260 Days, and 
 the Church's being fed in the Wilderness, 
 for a Time, Times, and half a Time, i. e. 
 Three Years and an half, as it is gene- 
 rally interpreted, Revelations 12. 14. may be 
 fairly supposed to synchronize and run pa- 
 rallel to the Forty-two Months as before 
 interpreted. And III. There is no Neces- 
 sity that the Effusion of the Vials should 
 belong to any part of the Forty-two Months, 
 but to begin upon their Expiration, as 
 being the gradual Steps whereby God (by 
 the Hands of some of his Servants that 
 had stood out their Time of Trial under 
 him, and were now in a State of Triumph, 
 and represented as Angels coming out of 
 the Temple, probably the inward Court in 
 which the Righteous were shut up) will de- 
 stroy Antichrist and all his Followers.
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 183 
 
 By this Period of Time thus differently 
 expressed, I cannot but think are meant 
 Natural Days, Months, and Years, as find- 
 ing no Reason to the contrary ; besides 
 that I have the Authority of almost all the 
 Ancients upon this Head, whom I have 
 occasionally referred to. However, far be 
 it from me that 1 should depreciate the 
 Learned Labours of those who have endea- 
 voured to prove the contrary, viz. that 
 thereby are to be understood Days and 
 Months of Years, &c. if they have proved 
 their Point, applying it to the Duration 
 of the Antichristian Church or Mystical 
 Body of Antichrist ; yet that will not at all 
 weaken my Assertion, that by the same are 
 to be understood Natural Days, as 1 apply 
 them to the Person of Antichrist, but will 
 only help to make the Correspondence be- 
 tween the Mystical and Natural Body of 
 Antichrist the more remarkable and mys- 
 terious ; if the Duration of the Spiritual 
 Tyranny of his Mystical Body be limited 
 to the same number of Years, as that of his 
 Person or Natural Body is of Days ; though 
 even these must acknowledge that if by the 
 Times of Antichristian Persecution be meant 
 1260 Years, it will be something difficult, 
 if not impossible, to give an Account how 
 that Time should be called a short Time. 
 Revelations 12. 12. as our Blessed Lord pro- 
 mises, Matthew 24. 2J, 22. Mark 13. 19, 
 20.
 
 J 84 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Places of ^ 24. This Grand Crisis of the Church 
 Holy Scrip- ^^Il(^er the Workings of this Mystery of Ini- 
 (Hn/to^this quity hath been variously pointed at by the 
 Reign of Prophets of the Old Testament. St. Jerome 
 Antichrist, has maintained that All the Prophets have 
 spoken of Antichrist, in which (says the 
 Learned Dr. Allix in his Preface upon the 
 Psalms, p. 12.) there is no Exa2:geration ; for 
 it was impossible for the Prophets to speak 
 of the Messiah's Kingdom, without speak- 
 ing of that Enemy who was to invade his 
 Spiritual Kingdom, and without the De- 
 struction of which he cannot obtain his 
 Universal Empire over the Israelites, and 
 afterwards over all Nations. Though it must 
 be acknowledged that the Doctor means 
 no more by Antichrist, than an Antichris- 
 tian Kingdom or Church, notwitlistanding 
 his quoting St. Jerome, whom he could not 
 but know to be a Friend to the Hypothesis 
 of a Personal Antichrist. I shall not pre- 
 tend to be so particular as to point out all 
 the Remarkable Passages of Holy Scripture 
 that refer to him, but only to some few that 
 may be useful for the clearer understanding 
 of this Theory. May not this be the Time 
 that the Prophet Isaiah principally intends, 
 Chapter 5. 14. Therefore Hell hath enlarged 
 herself, and opened her Mouth without mea- 
 sure, when the Honourable Men are famished, 
 and their Multitude dried up with Thirst, 
 and the Glory, and the Multitude, and the 
 Pomp of the careless Rejoicers (mentioned i;. 1 1 , 
 12.) shall descend into the Pit. Does he not 
 mean the Antichristian Army, v. 26, 27, 28,
 
 OF ANTICHRIST, 185 
 
 29, 30. hy a People that shall come with speed 
 upon the Church, none shall be weary nor stum- 
 ble amongst them, none shall slumber rior sleep, 
 their Arrows are sharp and all their Boivs bent, 
 their Horses Hoofs shall be counted as Flint, 
 and their Wheels as a Whirlwind, that because 
 of them the Land shall be full of Darkness and 
 Sorrow, and the Light shall be darkened in the 
 Heavens thereof Is it not of the Times of his 
 Reign that we are to understand the Tempta- 
 tion that the Church shall be under, Chap. 8. 
 V. 19. to have recourse to Familiar Spirits and 
 Wizards, which they are warned against, and 
 advised to seek unto their God, at a Time 
 "when the Antichristian Company shall be 
 hardly bestead and Hungry, and when they shall 
 be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse 
 their God and their King, and look upivards, 
 and they shall look unto the Earth, and behold 
 Trouble and Darkness, Di^nness of Anguish, 
 and they shall be driven to Darkness. Do not 
 the Prophecies against the King of Babylon, 
 Isaiah 14. refer ultimately to Antichrist ? Is 
 not he that Leviathan the piercing Serpent, 
 even Leviathan that crooked Serpent, (who is 
 a King over all the Children of Pride, Job 41. 
 34.) that for the sake of his Vineyard (or 
 Church) God ivill punish with his sore and 
 great and strong Sword, Isaiah 27. Is not this 
 that Time to which we must refer Isaiah 65. 
 13. My Servants shall eat, but ye (viz. the 
 Antichristian Company) shall be hungry; be- 
 hold my Servants shall drink, but ye shall be 
 thirsty: My Servants shall rejoice, but ye shall 
 be ashamed. V. 14. My Servants shall sing for
 
 J 86 OF ANTICHRIST, 
 
 joy of Heart, but ye shall cry for sorroiv of 
 Heart, and shall howl for vexation of Spirit. 
 This I understand to be that day of trouble 
 which Habakkuk mentions, Chapter 3. and 
 which he prays to be delivered from, v. 16. 
 which he calls being at Rest in the Day of 
 Trouble; the Contemplation of which draws 
 from him this generous and heroic Resolution, 
 that though the Fig-tree should not blossom, nor 
 the Fruit should be in the Vines, (as at that 
 time it will not,) though the labour of the Olive 
 should fail, and the Fields shall yield no 3Ieat, 
 though the Flocks should be cut off from the 
 Folds, and there should be no Herd in the Stalls, 
 that he will nevertheless rejoice in the Lord, 
 and joy in the God of his Salvation. It would 
 be endless to refer to the many Passages 
 concerning him in the Prophets, but particu- 
 larly in the Psalms, in which Sense Dr. Allix 
 explains many of them, though meaning indeed 
 nothing else by Antichrist, but the Pope of 
 Rome. Lastly, (to mention no more) to him 
 I apply that Prophecy of Jeremiah, Chap. 49. 
 19. that he shall come up like a Lion from the 
 swellings of Jordan, and the same Chap. 50. 
 44. to which he also alludes, Chap. 12. 5. 
 where, after he had talked of the miserable 
 Effects of the Apostacy of the Church in that 
 dreadful Day, he expostulates with them. If 
 thou hast run with the Footmen, and they have 
 wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with 
 Horses? if in the Land of Peace wherein thou 
 trustedest they have wearied thee, (or as the 
 Original seems rather to express it, if thou 
 trustedest in the Land of Peace, i. e. been
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 secure in the Prosperity of thy Land) how 
 tvilt thou do in the Swellings of Jordan ? i. e. 
 how wilt thou be prepared to bear the last 
 and great Conflict of the Church? For the 
 better understanding of which we will observe, 
 T. That Lactantius asserts, p. 645 and 646, 
 that the last Deliverance of the Church or 
 Children of God out of the Antichristian 
 Earth, was typified by the Deliverance of the 
 Children of Israel out of Egypt, as were the 
 Plagues that shall be sent upon the Antichris- 
 tian Company, by the Judgments sent upon 
 Pharaoh and the Egyptians. II. That the 
 Scriptures themselves call their taking Pos- 
 session of the Land of Carman their entering 
 into Rest, Psalm 95. 11. Hebreivs 3. 18; and 
 accordingly the Author to the Hebrews makes 
 that Rest to be a Figure and Type of that 
 great Sabbatism, that the Church shall en- 
 joy in the latter Times after the Destruc- 
 tion of Antichrist, Hebrews 4. 19. So that, 
 III. by consequence the last and great Af- 
 fliction of the Church, may be aptly repre- 
 sented by the Overflowings of Jordan, which 
 does constantly overflow its Banks in Har- 
 vest or Autumn, (at which Season of the 
 Year Antichrist shall also come, as we before 
 observed out of the Prophet Joel,) and that 
 does seem to be the completing Act of the 
 suffering Economy of the Jeivs. For as soon 
 as they were got over. Circumcision was com- 
 manded anew for those who had escaped it 
 during their Forty Years travel in the Wil- 
 derness, which is called the removing the 
 Reproach from Israel, i. e. the Reproach
 
 188 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 of the Cross or Suffering Period, upon which 
 the Passover was observed in Commemo- 
 ration of their complete Deliverance out of 
 Egypt; as may be seen at large, Joshua 3. 
 4, 5. 
 The De- § 25. Now when this Man of Sin shall 
 structionof have finished his Time, and the Number of 
 Antichrist j^jg j)ays shall be accomplished, then shall 
 swn of Uie ^^^ ^'i^*^ upon him the Afflictions of his 
 Seven Vials. People, He shall break the Staff of the Wicked, 
 and the Sceptre of the Rulers ; he that smote 
 the People in Wrath with a continual Stroke, 
 he that ruled the Nation in anger, shall be per- 
 secuted, and none shall hinder. Isaiah 14. 5, 6. 
 So he that said in his Heart I will ascend into 
 Heaven, I ivill exalt my Throne above the Stars 
 of God, I will sit also upon the Mount of the 
 Congregation, in the sides of the North. J will 
 ascend above the Heights of the Clouds, I ivill 
 be like the Most Hisrh. He that made the 
 Earth to tremble and destroyed Kingdoms, that 
 made the World a Wilderness, and destroyed the 
 Cities thereof, shall be brought down to Hell to 
 the sides of the Pit; v. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. 
 This God will accomplish by various and gra- 
 dual Steps, first, to magnify the Greatness of 
 his Power, and that every Act and Instance 
 of Vengeance may have time to produce its 
 designed Effect ; i. e. reclaim those who 
 are within the possibility of Mercy. The 
 grand Pomp of this Destruction is largely 
 described to us by the Author of the Apoca- 
 lypse; who having described to us. Chap. 15. 
 the Joy and Triumph of those who had 
 gotten the Victory over the Beast, &c. tells
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 189 
 
 us, V. 6. of that Chapter, that he saw Seven 
 Angels coming out of the Temple having 
 the Seven Plagues, clothed in Pwe and White 
 Linen, and their Breasts girded with Golden 
 Girdles. By the Seven Angels may possibly 
 be meant, either literally Seven Spirits, or 
 Seven Men of those who had been shut up 
 during the Beast's Reign, or perhaps the 
 Souls of Righteous Men departed commis- 
 sioned by God to execute his Vengeance, 
 of which more hereafter. They came forth 
 clothed in the Habits of Priests and Kings, 
 to show the Royal Priesthood of Christ's 
 Kingdom and Heavenly Temple or Taber- 
 nacle, out of which these Judgments pro- 
 ceed, V. 7. and one of the four Beasts, (or 
 living Creatures,) that were the Represen- 
 tatives of the Apostolical Church, gave unto 
 the Seven Angels Seven Vials (or Bowls, 2 
 Chronicles 4. 22. Revelations 5. 8.) full of the 
 Wrath of God who liveth for ever and ever, 
 V. 8. And the Temple ivas filled with Smoke 
 from the Glory of God and from his Power, 
 and no Man was able to enter into the Temple 
 till the Seven Plagues of the Seven Angels 
 were fulfilled. The filling of the Temple with 
 God's Glory is a Phrase expressing his dwell- 
 ing in the midst of his People, Ezekiel 43. 
 5, 7, 9. whereby is signified the Approach 
 of the New Jerusalem Sabbatism. The Smoke 
 appearing with it does intimate to us the 
 Glory of God, who dwells in thick Dark- 
 ness, or Light inaccessible, Isaiah 6. 4. And 
 2%, By the Impossibility of entering into 
 the Temple till the Vials are poured out,
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 may be signified, that none of the Anti- 
 christian Company, though drawn to Re- 
 pentance by some of the preceding Judg- 
 ments, shall be received into the Favour 
 and Participation of the Kingdom, till they 
 have undergone the full Vengeance of God. 
 
 And now follows the Effusion of these 
 Vials of Wrath upon the Antichristian World, 
 by the Command of a great Voice out of 
 the Temple, saying to the Seven Angels, 
 Go your way, arid pour out the Vials of the 
 Wrath of God upon the Earth, Revelations 
 16. 1. 
 
 I. THE First Angel ivent and poured out 
 his Vial upon the Earth, and there fell a 
 noisome grievous Soi'e upon the Men which had 
 the Mark of the Beast, and upon them that ivor- 
 shipped his Image. Tliis does seem to be 
 much the same Judgment with that inflicted 
 by Moses on the Egyptians, (from whence the 
 Expressions concerning this Plague are taken.) 
 3Ioses took hot Ashes of the Furnace, Exodus 
 9. 8, 11. which became small Dtist in all the 
 Land of Egypt, and was a Eile on Man and 
 Eeast. And accordingly in this Plague it 
 may by the like Congruity be supposed, that 
 many hot and fiery Particles and Exhalations 
 will be poured forth from these Vials upon 
 the Earth ; which shall produce an extraor- 
 dinary Heat and Drought, and be the Cause 
 of the Sores here mentioned, which are 
 wont to break out upon Men's Bodies in 
 hot and dry Seasons ; such a Sore was that 
 "Eaxo?, or Ulcer, that fell on Job and the 
 Egyptians, such as Thucydides observes, Lib.
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 191 
 
 2. p. 112. appeared upon the Bodies of the 
 Athenians in the height of their Distem- 
 per. 
 
 II. THE Second Angel poured out his Vial 
 upon the Sea, and it became as the Blood of a 
 dead Man, and every living Soul died in the 
 Sea, i. e. The Waters of the Sea stagnated 
 and became hke the Blood of a dead Carcass, 
 if not quite in all the Natural Qualities, yet at 
 least in Colour. 
 
 III. THE Third Angel poured out of his 
 Vial upon the Rivers and Fountains of Waters, 
 and they also became Elood. The Rivers are 
 represented as stagnating after the Sea, be- 
 cause they depend upon it, as their Cause and 
 Original, and therefore by a Necessity of 
 Nature partaking of the same Fate, this is 
 a very dismal Judgment, depriving them of 
 the Necessaries of Life, their Fish dying, 
 and their Water which should have quench- 
 ed their Thirst in the great Heat and Drought, 
 being corrupted and unfit for use ; accord- 
 ing to what God inflicted on Egypt, Exodus 
 7. 14-25. when the River Nile and all their 
 Water stank, so that they could not drink 
 of them, arid their Fish died. Besides that this 
 Destruction upon the Rivers, joined with 
 the Effects of the First Vial upon the Earth, 
 must needs have a fatal Influence upon the 
 Fruits of the Earth, and by consequence 
 deprive them of all necessary Food. Upon 
 the pouring out of this Vial, St. John, v. 5. 
 heard the Angel that was commissioned to 
 pour out these Plagues upon the Waters 
 praising God for this just Retaliation upon
 
 192 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 the Antichristian Company. For, saith he, 
 V. 6. they have shed the Blood of Saints and 
 Prophets, and thou hast given them Blood to 
 drink, for they are worthy. To which it was 
 echoed back, v. 1 . by an Angel out of the 
 Altar, (i. e. in the Name of the Saints and 
 Martyrs that lay vmder it, ChajD. 6. 9. that is, 
 a Place of Safety and Refuge, as the Altar 
 was under the Old Law;) Even so Lord God 
 Almighty, True and Righteous are thy Judg- 
 ments, (in giving them Blood to drink for the 
 Blood they have shed). 
 
 IV. AND the Fourth (who had Power 
 over the Fire, Chap. 14. 18.) poured out his 
 Vial upon the Sun, and Power was given unto 
 him to scorch Men with Fire. As the Light 
 of the Sun may be multiplied by Parhelia, and 
 other Natural Causes, to which the Prophet 
 alludes, Isaiah 30. 26. so it is not difficult to 
 conceive that its Heat may be naturally 
 augmented by the Dissolution or Dissipa- 
 tion of its MaculcE ; upon the increase and 
 breaking forth of those fluctuating Vortexes 
 of Fire, which are in the Body of that 
 Planet, and are stronger and clearer at its 
 Centre, than near its Circumference ; and 
 by other Natural Causes, not unknown to 
 the Learned ; and if the Heat of the Sun 
 may be increased by Natural Causes, how 
 much more by Supernatural Ones, ordering 
 and conducting them, and adding new ones? 
 V. 9. A7id men were scorched with great 
 Heat, and blasphemed the Name of God, 
 which had Power over these Plagues, and they 
 repented not to give him Glory. This seems to
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 1J)3 
 
 he an Allusion to the violent, scorching, and 
 suffocating Heats of the Sun, and the burning 
 Heat of the East Wind which afflicted Jonah, 
 Jonah 4. 8, 9. and which usually accompany 
 one another in the Eastern Climates, pro- 
 ducing much Trouble and Grief as well in 
 Mind as in Body. 
 
 V. AND the Fifth Angel poured out his 
 Vial upon the Seat of the Beast, (i. e. Jerusa- 
 lem,) and his Kingdom ivas full of Darkness 
 (alluding to the Darkness that overspread the 
 Land of Egypt) and they gnawed their Tongues 
 
 for pain, and v. ] J . blasphemed the God of 
 Heaven, because of their pains and their sores, 
 and repented not of their Deeds, i. e. The Ter- 
 rors of their Minds and Consciences made 
 them blaspheme God and gnaw their Tongues, 
 as in the greatest Rage imaginable, even as the 
 Egyptians were vexed and tormented during 
 the Darkness that covered them, with the 
 Terrors of their own affrighted Consciences, 
 and the Evil Angels, as the Hook of Wisdom 
 testifieth. Chap. 17, 18. 
 
 VI. AND the Sixth Angel poured out his 
 Vial upon the great River Euphrates, and the 
 Waters thereof were dried up, that the Way of 
 the Kings of the East might be prepared. The 
 drying of Euphrates is unquestionably an Allu- 
 sion to the Exploit of Cyrus, who drained it, 
 when he took Babylon, as was literally fore- 
 told by the Prophet Jeremiah 50. 38. 51. .32, 
 36. and to those Passages of the Prophets 
 where the Return of the Jews into their own 
 Land is described in the like Expressions, 
 Isaiah 11. 15. Zech. 10. II. Now Euphrates, 
 
 o
 
 194 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 which was one of the Branches into which 
 the River that watered Paradise was divided 
 after it had passed through it, was also the 
 Eastern Boundary of the Land of Promise, 
 to which David and Solomon extended their 
 Conquests, and upon this River was seated 
 Sabylo7i, the Enemy and Oppressor of God's 
 Church, and a Type of Antichristianism, 
 over which River the Jews were carried 
 captive for their Iniquities into the Assyrian 
 and Sabylonish Countries. The Expression 
 of the Kings of the East is undoubtedly an 
 Allusion to the Story of Cyrus, of whom the 
 Prophet Isaiah speaks, Chapter 41. 2. that 
 God raised him up from the East, and v. 25. 
 that he shall come from the Rising of the Sun 
 to proclaim the Name of the Lord; so then in 
 allusion to his Personal Character may be 
 meant some great Persons, perhaps of the 
 Ten Tribes, who shall come from the East 
 to the Glory of the Kingdom, See the 4th 
 Book of Esdras, Chap. 13. v. 42, 43, &c. or 
 else as Cyrus was a Type of our Blessed Lord, 
 by the Kings of the East may be meant those 
 * Cfl/Zerffl/so Saints, who, as so many Inferior Messiahs,* 
 by Obadiah ^nd Divinely Anointed Kings and Priests, 
 ^amours, q^^ which Name Cyrus is called in Scrip- 
 ture,) are to reign with Christ, who is called 
 the East, the Morning, the Morning Star, 
 &c. as was before observed. So then by 
 the drying up of Euphrates I understand 
 literally, the drying up its Waters to make 
 way for some great Persons of the East, per- 
 haps some remains of the Assyrian and Baby- 
 lonish Captivity. And as this Vial makes
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 196 
 
 soiiae Preparations or Dispositions for the 
 Kingdom of the Messiali by the drying np 
 of Euphrates, so does it in the next Verse 
 begin to prepare for the Destruction of the 
 Antichristian Powers. For v. 13. Three un- 
 clean Spirits, like Frogs, came out of t lie Mouth 
 of the Dragon, (i. e. the Devil,) and out of the 
 Mouth of the Beast, (i. e. Antichrist,) and of 
 the False Prophet; v. 14. And they are the 
 Spirits of Devils (or Diabolical Spirits) ivork- 
 ing Miracles, which go forth unto the Kings of 
 the Earth, and of the whole World, to gather 
 them to the Eattle of that great Day of God 
 Almighty. By which is signified some strong 
 Magical Influence diversified by the Opera- 
 tions of Satan, Antichrist, and the False Pro- 
 phet, to excite the Kings of the Earth, or 
 Antichristian Powers, to meet together to 
 oppose the Kingdom of the Lamb, who was 
 then beginning to overcome the Beast, and 
 that in the place (called Armageddon, v. 10.) 
 where God had appointed to destroy them; 
 as is shown imder the Seventh Vial. Now 
 the word Armageddon in the Hebrew Tongue 
 signifies the Hill of Blegiddo, called Megiddon 
 by the Prophet, Zechariah 12. 11. yyr]>^j2 '^n 
 Mxyia^u, LXXII. a Royal City in the Tribe 
 of Issachar, but belonging to Manasseh, 
 which the Canaanites possessed in despite of 
 them. Joshua 17. 11, 12. and this City was 
 famous in Scripture for the Miraculous De- 
 feat of Sisera and the Kings of Canaan (a 
 Type of the Kings of the Earth) by Barak 
 and the Israelites who came down from 
 Mount Tabor (which was not far from tliat 
 
 () 2
 
 wa OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 place,) and discomfited them at the Waters 
 of Megiddo, in the Hilly and Mountainous 
 Parts of that Place, as Grotius upon the 
 Place conjectures. It was also famous for 
 the Death of Ahaziali, 2 Kings 9. 27. but 
 especially of Josiah, who received his deadly 
 Wound with a great Slaughter in the Valley 
 of Megiddo, 2 Kings 23. 29, 30. 2 Chronicles, 
 35. 20-27. where he was bewailed with so 
 great a Lamentation, that the Mournings 
 of that Valley is used by way of a Pro- 
 verbial Speech by the Prophet Zechariah, 
 Chap. 12. 11. and Megiddo is interpreted by 
 the LXXIl, the Valley of the Slain, or 
 cut off, as if it signified a Place of great 
 Grief and Slaughter; and 3Iegiddo may be 
 chosen to be a Type and Symbol of the 
 Place of this Valley of Decision, to show 
 that as the Nation of the Jews did yearly 
 bewail the Death of Josiah in that Place, 
 so they should likewise bemoan him whose 
 Type Josiah was, and was slain near that 
 Place just when he had prepared the Tem- 
 ple of God, which was the Emblem of 
 Christ's Kingdom. 8ee Zechariah 12. 11. It 
 may also signify {2dli/) that God, who over- 
 rules Evil Designs for Good, and who de- 
 clares, Judges 4. 7. (the Place here alluded 
 to) that he drew Sisera and his Multitude 
 together, had ordained that these Kings 
 should be totally overthrown as the Kings 
 of Canaaji were at Megiddo ; and that the 
 Lamb and his Company should triumph over 
 them and bless God for the great Victory, 
 as Jehoshaphat and the Israelites did in the
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 197 
 
 Valley of Beracha for the defeat of that 
 great Multitude of wicked People that con- 
 federated against Israel, 2 Cluonicles *20. 
 26. 
 
 VII. And now the Seventh Angel pours out Tin- Gvrat 
 his Vial, v. 17. into the Air, and there came a l'^<"ff'<j""f<e 
 great Voice out of the Temple of Heaven saij- ^Seventh"' 
 ing. It is clone, i. e. This is the last com- yiai. 
 pleting Act of Vengeance npon the Anti- 
 christian World, in order to make way for the 
 Kingdom of Christ. Under this Vial are com- 
 prised and effected Two notable Events. The 
 First is the Destruction of Babylon, i. e. the 
 Antichristian City Rome ; and of the great 
 City Jerusalem. The Second is the Destruc- 
 tion of the Great Antichristian Army at Arma- 
 geddon. 
 
 I. That the Great City, the Destruction 
 whereof is so pompously described, Chapter 
 17. 18, 19. is Rome, has been (I think) plainly 
 and fully proved by Dr. More, Mr. Mede, 
 and all the Reformed Commentators. Aud 
 this City is to be destroyed under this Vial, 
 npon the Effusion whereof. Chapter 16. v. 18. 
 There were Voices, and Thunders, and Light- 
 nings, and a Great Earthquake, such as was 
 not since Men ivere upon the Earth ; so mighty 
 and so great. Upon which the Great City 
 (viz. Jerusalem) was divided into three parts, 
 and the Cities of the Nations fell, and Great 
 Babylon came into remembrance before God, 
 to give unto her the Cup of the Wine of the 
 Fierceness of his Wrath. And the Islands, and 
 the Mountains fled away, and a great Hail fell 
 from Heaven %ipon the Men that survived, which
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Hail ivas exceeding Great. It may possibly 
 be this Hail that Job means by the treasures of 
 Hail, which God hath reserved for the Time of 
 Trouble, against the Day of Battle and War, 
 Job 38. 22. This being indeed the Great 
 Day of Battle and Destruction of the Anti- 
 christian Powers out of the whole Earth, to 
 \vhich that Ancient Writer frequently re- 
 fers. 
 
 II. The Second Great Transaction, and 
 which more immediately concerns this dis- 
 course, is the Destruction of Antichrist and 
 his Great Army at the Battle of Armageddon. 
 It is the Opinion of some, that the Prophecy 
 of Ezekiel, Chapter 39. concerning Gog and 
 Magog is to be understood of Antichrist and 
 his Army ; though all know very well that 
 by Gog and Magog, Revelations 20. is to be 
 understood that vast Diabolical Multitude 
 that shall encompass the Holy City after the 
 Millennium. How true this Opinion may 
 be, I shall not presume to say, but must ac- 
 knowledge, that it seems to be favoured by 
 several Circumstances of that Prophecy. 1. 
 The same Invitation is made to the Fowls 
 of Heaven, Ezekiel .39. v. 17-21. as is 
 made, Revelations 19. v. 17, 18. for the Slain 
 of the Battle of Armageddon. 2. The Gog 
 and Magog, mentioned in the Revelations, are 
 to be devoured by Fire, and consequently not 
 left to be eaten by the Fowls of Heaven. 
 3. The Destruction of the last Gog by Fire 
 in the Revelations is said to be immediately 
 followed by the Great and last Judgment. 
 Whereas in Ezekiel, the Destruction of Gog
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 is mentioned with no such Consequences, 
 but rather with a happy Succession of Peace 
 and Repose to the Church in the very same 
 Earth ; mention being' made of buryinj:^ the 
 Dead, burning the Weapons, and a Dura- 
 tion of Seven Years of Strans^ers travelhnsr 
 that way, and of the Heathens glorifying 
 God upon the Account of his Judgments, 
 which may be understood of their Conver- 
 sion, even as we believe that the Millennial 
 Glory will follow after the Destruction of 
 Antichrist. Before this Battle of Armaged- 
 don, there is an Invitation to the Fowls of 
 Heaven made by an Angel standing in the 
 Sun, Revelations, Chapter 19. v. 17, 18. say- 
 ing, Come and gather yourselves together to the 
 Supper of the Great God, that ye may eat the 
 Flesh of Kings, and the Flesh of Captains, and 
 the Flesh of Mighty Men, and the Flesh of 
 Horses, and of them that sit thereon, and the 
 Flesh of all Men (i. e. all sorts of Men) both 
 free and bond, both small avid great. As it is 
 also Ezekiel 39. 17, 18, \9. Many different 
 Opinions there are about this Place among 
 the Commentators. Those of them who inter- 
 pret it in an Allegorical and Mystical Sense, 
 insist upon the Incongruity of setting an Angel 
 in the Literal Sense to invite all the Fowls 
 of the Air to a Banquet. But suppose we 
 should grant that this part may be nothing 
 more than an Oriental Form of Speech ; who 
 attributed every thing, especially in Pro- 
 phetical Writings, to the Ministry of An- 
 gels, yet I see no reason why we may not 
 understand the other Part literally, that is,
 
 200 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 if this Antichristian Army be to be destroy- 
 ed or slain in a literal Sense, then their 
 Bodies will be literally dead, and when so 
 are proper Food for ravenous Birds, and 
 wild Beasts of the Earth, and why then may 
 it not express, that there shall be such great 
 Multitudes of them destroyed, that all the 
 Fowls of Heaven may come and feast upon 
 their Bodies ? Though I must acknowledge 
 that there are good Reasons given by Dr. 
 More in the last of his Divine Dialogues 
 to prove that this cannot be understood 
 otherwise than in a Mystical and Spiritual 
 Sense. 
 Antichrist § 26. And now foilov.'s the Grand Catas- 
 takenand trophe. Whilst the Antichristian Army are 
 Bottom/cIl^ thus gathered together. Behold the Heavens 
 Plf ivere opened, Revelations 19. 11. and a white 
 
 Horse, avid he that sat upon him ivas called 
 Faithful and True, and in Righteousness he 
 doth Judge and make War. By the ivhite 
 Horse may be signified Christ's Royalty and 
 Glory from his Resurrection to his Second 
 Coming in his Kingdom. The Rider is said 
 to be Faithfid and True; because of his ap- 
 pearing in his Kingdom, according to his Pro- 
 mise, which Atheists, Deists, and they of the 
 Antichristian Party had called in Question, 
 asking, Where is the promise of his coming? 
 These Unbelievers he will in his Righteousness 
 judge and destroy. 
 
 V. 12. This Rider is described. His Eyes 
 were as a Flame of Fire (penetrating and 
 judging all things in a quick and terrible 
 manner) and on his Head ivere many Crowns.
 
 OF ANTJCHIUST. 201 
 
 (denotinj^ the Amplitude of his Dominion). 
 And he had a Name ivritteu which ito Man 
 knew hut himself. By Name in Scripture is 
 often signified Nature, and so this Mysterious 
 Name may be something expressing tlie 
 Hypostatic Union of the Two Natures in 
 our Blessed Lord ; which as it does infi- 
 nitely transcend the short limited Capacity 
 of Human Nature to comprehend, so it 
 will appear now more Illustrious and Glorious 
 than ever. 
 
 V. 1 3. HE was clothed ivith a Vesture dip- 
 ped in blood, (expressing his Triumph through 
 the Blood of his Cross,) and his Name is 
 called (or he is) the Word of God, i. e. He is 
 the Eternal word of God, the Second Person 
 in the Ever-Blessed-Trinity, the Word by 
 whom God spake when he made the World; 
 and spake also to our Forefathers under 
 the Old Testament, and to us in the Gos- 
 pel. 
 
 V. 14. Are described his Companions and 
 Attendants. The Armies which icere in Hea- 
 ven, (i. e. the Angels and Saints, whether 
 dead or living, in whom the Kingdom of 
 Heaven is perfected) followed him upon while 
 Horses, Companions and Partakers with Cln*ist 
 in his Glory and Kingdom, clothed in fine 
 Linen white and clean. Their Robes or Righ- 
 teousness having been washed and made white 
 in the Blood of him who is clothed with the 
 Bloody Garment. 
 
 V. 15. AND out of his Moidh goelh a 
 sharp Sword, (viz. his Word, which is sharper 
 tJian any two-edged Sword, Hebrews 4. 12.)
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 that with it he may smite the Nations of the 
 Earth, and rule them with a Rod of Iron, 
 (during the continuance of his Glorious King- 
 dom,) a7id he treadeth the Wine-press of the 
 fierceness and Wrath of Almighty God (as he 
 once trod it by himself alone when in his own 
 Body he bore upon the Cross the Iniquities of 
 us all, Isaiah 63. 3.) So will he now tread 
 down the wicked who are the accursed Vine 
 of Sodom, or rather, to speak in the Language 
 of Isaiah in the afore-cited Place, make them 
 tread it themselves whilst they suffer that Ven- 
 geance which he inflicts upon them. 
 
 V, 1 6. AND he had upon his Vesture, arid 
 upon his Thigh a Name written KING of 
 KINGS, and LORD of LORDS. (He 
 wore and discovered Glorious and Illustrious 
 Symbols and Characters of his Supreme Uni- 
 versal Monarchy). Some think that as his 
 former Name mentioned, v. 13. denoted his 
 Divinity ; so this may denote his Kingdom as 
 Son of Man, therefore he wears a Title on his 
 Vesture, as Kings do their Royal Cognizances, 
 by which they are distinguished and made 
 known. 
 
 With this Glory, this Might, and Autho- 
 rity, he scatters and confounds the Diabolical 
 Army, that are said, v. 19. to be gathered 
 together to make War against him. They fall 
 before him as the shades of Darkness before 
 the Rising Sun. See how the Lightnings flash 
 in their Faces, how they tremble and are 
 amazed, they reel, and stagger, and are at 
 their Wits end, and in this confusion they shall 
 as in the Day of Midian, Joshua 7. 22. turn
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 203 
 
 their Hands against each other, and like as the 
 Moahites, Ammonites, and the Children of 
 Monnt Seir, 2 Chronicles 20. 23. helped to de- 
 stroy one another, so shall these lift up every 
 one his Hand against his Brother, and turn 
 his Sword against his Fellow. Even as the 
 Lord hath said, Ezekiel 38. 21. 1 will call 
 for a Sword against him throughout all my 
 Mountains, every Man's Sicord shall be against 
 his JBrother. And I will •plead against him 
 with Pestilence and with Slood, and I will rain 
 upon him and upon his JBands, and upon the 
 many People that are tvith him, an overflowing 
 Rain, and great Hailstones, Fire, and Brim- 
 stone. And (Revelation 19. 20.) the Beast, and 
 False Prophet that ivrought Miracles before 
 him, with which he had deceived them that had 
 received the Mark of the Beast, and them that 
 worship his Image, ivere both of them taken 
 and cast alive into the Lake burning with Fire 
 and Brimstone. And the Remnant (v. 21.) 
 were slain with the Sword of .him that sat upon 
 the Horse, which proceedeth out of his Mouth, 
 and all the Fowls were filled with their Flesh. 
 This is what St. Paul foretold concerning this 
 Lying Deceiver, 2 Thessalonians 2. 8. That 
 the Lord shall consume him ivith the Breath of 
 his 3Iouth, and destroy him with the Brightness 
 of his Coming. When he shall descend with 
 the Power and Majesty of an Everlasting 
 Kingdom, which shall descend with him upon 
 the Earth, then shall all the Glorious Promises 
 made to the Church be plentifully fulfilled ; 
 then shall the Sons and Disciples of the Cross 
 receive double at the Lord's Hand for the
 
 204 OF ANTICHRIST 
 
 Shame which they have suffered for his sake, 
 and instead of Confusion they shall rejoice in 
 their Portion, and in their Land they shall 
 possess the double. He will give them Beauty 
 for Ashes, the Oil of Joy for Mourning, the 
 Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness. 
 Everlasting Joy shall be upon them. Yea the 
 * See the Lord shall send forth his Spirit* and renew 
 Original. ^/^^ j^^^.^ ^y- ^^g Earth. Psalms 104. 30. which 
 is that Restitution of all things which God hath 
 spoken by the Mouth of all his Holy Prophets 
 ever since the World began. Acts 3. 21.
 
 205 
 
 The Conclusion. 
 
 AJND now perhaps it may be asked, TAcCo«f/i/. 
 as the Disciples asked our Blessed **'^"' »*''''* 
 Lord, 3Iat. 24. 3. tell us; when shall these 'r^^^^^^f^^^ 
 Things be? To which Question our Lord concerning- 
 has upon another Occasion, Acts 1. 7. ^\\e\\ the Signs of 
 us this short Answer, that it is not for us to '''^ ^""'*- 
 Jctiow the Times and the Seasons, which the 
 Father hath put in his oivn Poicer. And it 
 must be acknowledged, that no one thing has 
 given so fatal an Advantage to the Enemies 
 of Prophetical Truth, as the vast Presump- 
 tion of some Men, who upon very slender 
 Grounds have dared as in the Name of the 
 Lord to confine the Completion of some very 
 great Revolutions to a very narrow Compass 
 of Time, and that with as much Confidence, 
 as if their Comments had been as Divine and 
 Authentic as the Prophecies themselves which 
 they pretended to explain. 
 
 Now though our Blessed Saviour condemns 
 a too positive Curiosity in things of this nature, 
 yet does he by no means discourage the modest 
 and humble Inquirer, having himself vouch- 
 safed. Mat. 24. 3Iark 13. and Luke 21. to 
 give us some Marks and tokens whereby to 
 judge of the near approach of that Time; at 
 least with as much certainty as we can judge 
 of the near approach of Summer, when 
 we see the tender Branches of the Fig-tree 
 begin to bud and put forth its Leaves, or 
 judge of the Weather by the appearance of the 
 
 p2
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Sky. Learn (saith he to his Disciples, Mat. 
 21. 32, 33) a Parable of the Fig-tree : ivhen 
 his Branch is yet tender, and putteth forth his 
 Leaves, ye know that Summer is nigh : So like- 
 ivise ye when ye shall see all these things (mean- 
 ing the Signs and Tokens afore-mentioned) 
 knoiv that it (the great Desolation) is near, even 
 at the doors. So Mat. 16. 2, 3. When it is 
 Evening, ye say it will be Fair Weather : For 
 the Sky is Red. And in the Morning it will be 
 Foul Weather to Day: for the Sky is Red and 
 Lowring. O ye Hypocrites, ye can discern the 
 Face of the Sky, but cannot ye discern the Signs 
 of the Times? Omitting therefore all Chrono- 
 logical Disquisitions, which at the best are 
 attended with infinite Uncertainties, we will 
 take a short view of those Criteria, or Tokens, 
 which our Blessed Lord has given us. 
 
 The first is Mat. 24. 6. Ye shall hear of 
 Wars, and Rumours of Wars, Nation shall 
 rise against Nation, and Kingdom against 
 Kingdom, there shall be Famines and Pestilen- 
 ces and Earthquakes in divers Places. 
 
 Another Sign is, v. 11, Many False Pro- 
 phets shall arise, and shall deceive many. 
 
 The next Sign is v. 12. That because of the 
 
 abundance of iniquity, the love of many shall 
 
 ivax cold. Upon this saith St. Cyril, Ibid. 
 
 ' Can any here present say, that he does in all 
 
 ' Respects love his Neighbour with Sincerity ? 
 
 * Are not our Words very often friendly, our 
 
 ' Countenances smiling, and- our Eyes cheer- 
 
 ' ful, whilst the Heart contrives Deceit, and 
 
 ' he that speaks Peace, has War in his Heart?" 
 
 (A little after) " The want of brotherly Love
 
 OF ANTICHRIST " 207 
 
 " will make Way for Antichrist. The Devil 
 " makes Divisions and Strife amongst Men, 
 " that the Enemy (viz. Antichrist) may be 
 " more easily let in." The same Account is 
 given by Laclantius of the Times preceding' 
 the Reign of Antichrist, pag. 646. " There 
 " shall be so little Righteousness in the World, 
 " and such Abundance of Covetousness, Im- 
 " piety, and Lust, that the few good Men 
 " that shall be left shall become a Prey to the 
 " Wicked. They shall live in Plenty, whilst 
 " the Righteous shall labour under Contempt 
 " and Poverty ; Right shall be oppressed, the 
 " Laws shall lose their Force, there shall be 
 " neither Sincerity, nor Peace, nor common 
 " Civility, nor Truth among Men." The same 
 Account is given by Methodius Patarensis, 
 *And alas ! who is there at this day that may * P. S96. 
 not take up JeremiaJis Lamentation, chap. 9. Orthodox. 
 and wish in the Bitterness of his Soul for a ^''''- ^^^''• 
 Lodging of ivay-faring 3Ien, in the silent re- 
 tirement of a wilderness, that he might leave his 
 people and go from them. For they be all Adul- 
 terers (loving the World, and the Riches and 
 Pleasures of it more than God) Jam. 4. 4. 
 An Assembly of treacherous men, and they bend 
 their tongues like their bow for lies, but they are 
 not valia?itfor the truth upon the Earth. Take 
 ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye 
 not in any brother, for every brother will utterly 
 supplant, and evei^ neighbour ivill walk with 
 slanders, and they icill deceive every one his 
 neighbour, and will not speak the truth ; they 
 have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary 
 themselves to commit iniquity ; their tongue is as
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 an arrow shot out, it speaketh deceit ; one speak- 
 eth peaceably to his Neighbour with his mouth, 
 hut in heart he layeth his wait, v. 2, 3, 4, 8. 
 
 But you will say, if these be the infallible 
 Tokens, whereby we are to judge of the near 
 approach of that Time ; How comes it to pass 
 that so many Holy and Good Men have been 
 mistaken in their Judgements about it? Since 
 so many of the Ancient Fathers, who have 
 written about these Matters, have taken Pains 
 to apply them all to their own Times, and to 
 persuade themselves and others, that the Day 
 of the Lord was at hand ? To this I answer. 
 That the Illustrious Ideas which the Ancients 
 had received from the Holy Scriptures as then 
 understood, and from the Traditions of their 
 Venerable Predecessors in the Faith, concern- 
 ing the Glorious Kingdom of the Messiah, 
 and the Restitution of Nature (which will be 
 the Consequences of the Great Affliction) were 
 so transporting and ravishing, that their infla- 
 med Affections could not choose but outrun, 
 or at least lay a strong Bias upon their Judge- 
 ments, and make them often believe, that what 
 they wished to be so near at hand, could not 
 be far off. So even the Disciples themselves, 
 as soon as ever our Lord was Risen from the 
 Dead, could not choose but think that the 
 Kingdom should immediately be restored to 
 Israel, Acts 1 . 6. But if we, upon whom the 
 Ends of the World are come, have not the 
 same longing Expectation that they had, to 
 see the return of our Dear Redeemer, to see 
 his Church triumphant, and all his Enemies 
 put under his Feet; yet let us however be
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 209 
 
 driven by the Terrors of the Lord, and not 
 put far from us the Evil Day, considering that 
 whatever Reasons our Fore-fathers had for 
 judging the Consummation to be at hand, 
 ought more closely to affect us, who at this 
 distance of time are so much nearer to it than 
 they. So then if we do in good earnest watch 
 for that Day, in Abstraction from the Dark- 
 ness of this World, and standing in the Spirit 
 of Light and Truth, we shall as Children of 
 the Light and of the Day see ivhen Evil cometh, 
 so that that Day shall not overtake us as a 
 Thief 1 Thess. 5. 4, 5. So says Hippolytus, 
 \ 50. " But let us, having the Mystery of 
 " God in our Hearts, faithfully attend to those 
 " Things that have been spoken by the Holy 
 *' Prophets, that we knowing them before- 
 ** hand, may not be deceived ; for in the Ful- 
 " ness of Times He, concerning whom these 
 " Things are spoken (viz. Antichrist) shall 
 " surely be made manifest." Whilst on the 
 other hand they that neither love nor believe 
 the Truth, hut take pleasure in Unrighteousness, 
 upon them God shall send f the Energy (or t 'e«'?ti.«v 
 strength) of Error (viz. Antichrist) that they '"^'''^^' 
 shall believe a Lie to their Condemnation, 2 
 Thess. 2. 11, 12. 
 
 But whether we regard it or not, whether 
 we be provided or not, that Day will surely 
 come, the Times are ripening apace ; God 
 hath begun to shake the Heavens and the 
 Earth ; An Alarm is sounded to the Ends of 
 the Earth ; The Day does already dawn upon 
 the tops of the Mountains. And the Spirit of 
 Love and Peace is descending in |)lentifnl
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Showers, like the latter Rain upon the Earth, 
 
 to unite, strengthen, and prepare for himself, 
 
 a peculiar People to be the First-Fruits of the 
 
 Kingdom of the Lamb. Even so, Lord Jesus, 
 
 come quickly ! Turn Thee, O Thou Beloved 
 
 of our Souls, and come swiftly as a Roe, or a 
 
 young Hart over the Mountains of ( Bether) 
 
 Division (even the Divisions and Distractions 
 
 of the Christian Church) till the Day (even 
 
 Thy Day) break forth, and the Shadows of 
 
 Darkness be perfectly dissipated. O ! That 
 
 Thou wouldest rend the Heavens, that Thou 
 
 wouldest come down, that the Mountains 
 
 might flow down, and melt at thy Presence ! 
 
 Lord pity the Stones of Zion! It is Time 
 
 that thou have Mercy upon her, yea the Time 
 
 is come. Thine Holy Cities are a Wilderness, 
 
 Zion is a Wilderness, Jerusalem a Desolation. 
 
 Our Holy and Beautiful House where our 
 
 Fathers praised Thee is burnt up with (the) 
 
 Fire (of Contention and uncharitable Zeal). 
 
 We see not our Tokens, there is not one 
 
 Prophet more, there is none amongst us that 
 
 knoweth how long. Wilt thou refrain thyself 
 
 for these Things? O God! Where is thy 
 
 Zeal and thy Strength, the Sounding of thy 
 
 Bowels, and of thy Mercies towards us ; are 
 
 they restrained ? Arise, and let thine Enemies 
 
 be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee 
 
 before Thee. Send Thy Fear upon all the 
 
 Nations that seek not after Thee. Show new 
 
 Signs, and make other strange Wonders : 
 
 Glorify thy Hand and thy right Arm, that they 
 
 may set forth thy wondrous Works. Make 
 
 the Time short, remember the Covenant,
 
 OF ANTICHRIST. 2 1 1 
 
 gather all the Tribes of Jacob together, and 
 inherit Thou them as from the Beginning. O 
 be merciful to Jerusalem thy Holy City. Fill 
 Sion with thy unspeakable Oracles, and thy 
 People with thy Glory. Give Testimony to 
 those whom Thou hast possessed from the 
 Beginning, and raise up Prophets such as 
 have been in thy Name. 
 
 O Lord hear the Prayer of thy Servant, ac- 
 cording to the JBlessings of Aaron, yea of our 
 everlasting High Priest Christ Jesus over thy 
 People, that all they which dwell upon the 
 Earth, may knoiv, that Thou art the Lord, the 
 Eternal God. Amen.
 
 AN 
 
 INDEX 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Passages of Scripture explained or 
 illustrated in this Essay. 
 
 N.B. Where this Mark * occurs, the Passages are more 
 fully explained: When this t, they are not expressly 
 cited, but illustrated only. E. signifies the Discourse 
 of Ephraim Syrus. Note also. That the Verses are 
 here expressed, where they are not in the Sook itself 
 
 
 G 
 
 ENESIS. 
 
 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 vi 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 179 
 
 vii 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 177 
 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 14^sqg. 
 
 4 
 
 191 
 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 25 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 viii 
 
 1 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 ix 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 190 
 
 tx 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 194 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 XV 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 xiii 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 129 
 
 xix 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 xvi 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 77 
 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 xxi 
 
 4 
 
 E. 
 
 44 
 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 39 
 
 xxvi 
 
 25 
 
 2 
 
 51 
 
 xiv 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 97 
 
 xxxiii 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 145 
 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 
 
 xlix 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 125 
 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 
 
 IG 
 
 4 
 
 132 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 133 
 
 i 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 23, 24 
 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 70 
 
 viii 
 
 23,24 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 3 
 
 97 
 
 xiv 
 
 14 
 
 E. 
 
 ib.
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 
 2 
 
 Samuel. 
 
 
 xiv 
 
 17 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 XXV 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 45 
 
 xxiv 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 54 
 
 xxvi 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 51 
 
 
 1 Kings. 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 xvii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 165,177 
 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 98 
 
 
 
 
 
 xviii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 177 
 
 X 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 158 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 179 
 
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 41 
 
 4 
 
 Ill 
 
 viii 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 77 
 
 xix 
 
 2 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 xxviii 
 
 21 
 22 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 51 
 
 ib. 
 
 XX i 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 179 
 
 
 27 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 2 Kings. 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 177 
 
 
 59 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 60 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 
 61 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 vii 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 77 
 
 xxxii 
 
 32 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 ix 
 
 27 
 
 4 
 
 196 
 
 
 33 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 txi 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 158 
 
 
 Joshua. 
 
 
 xxiii 
 
 29 
 
 4 
 
 196 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 iii 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 188 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 1 Chronicles. 
 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 40 
 
 ix 
 
 27 
 
 1 
 
 40 
 
 vii 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 145 
 
 
 33 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 203 
 
 xxviii 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 tx 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 171 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 «6. 
 
 xvii 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 105 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 2 Chronicles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 iv 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 189 
 
 
 
 Judges. 
 
 
 xix 
 
 23 
 
 1 
 
 27 
 
 iv 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 196 
 
 XX 
 
 23 
 
 4 
 
 203 
 
 vi 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 145 
 
 
 26 
 
 4 
 
 197 
 
 vii 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 xxix 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 141 
 
 
 1 
 
 Samuel. 
 
 
 XXX 
 
 9 
 26 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 ib. 
 
 tiv 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 XXXV 
 
 20 to '21 4 
 
 196 
 
 tv 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 xiv 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 27 
 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 ih. 
 
 viii 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 178 
 
 XV 
 
 12 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 ib.
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Hester. 
 Chap. Vers. Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 Chap, 
 xci 
 
 Vers. ] 
 Isqq. 
 
 Part. 
 2 
 
 Pag. 
 70 
 
 ix 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 178 
 
 xcv 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 187 
 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 civ 
 
 30 
 
 4 
 
 204 
 
 
 
 
 
 cvi 
 
 26 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 
 Job. 
 
 
 cix 
 
 6 
 
 E. 
 
 ib. 
 
 iii 
 
 26 
 
 3 
 
 103 
 
 cxxi 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 V 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 3 
 
 96 
 
 fcxxvi 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 23 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 32 
 
 cxxxv 
 
 7 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 xiv 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 103 
 
 
 Proverbs. 
 
 
 xxi 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 75 
 
 iv 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 180 
 
 xxii 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 xvii 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 xxiv 
 
 2 sqq. 
 
 3 
 
 74 
 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 XXX 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 179 
 
 
 
 
 
 xxxi 
 
 20 
 
 3 
 
 96 
 
 vii 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 xxxvii 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 102 
 
 fviii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 
 Isaiah. 
 
 
 
 tl7 
 
 1 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 xxxviii 
 
 1 
 
 £. 
 
 42 
 
 i 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 178 
 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 23,25 
 
 iii 
 
 16 sqq. 
 
 2 
 
 55 
 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 198 
 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 ib. 56 
 
 xxxix 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 103 
 
 *iv 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 xl 
 
 Wsqq. 
 
 20 sqq. 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 4 
 
 138 
 
 
 
 t4 
 
 157 
 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 V 
 
 tl 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 xli 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 74 
 
 
 M. J. 
 
 34 
 
 4 
 
 185 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 184 
 74 
 
 
 Psalms. 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 184 
 
 xxxiii 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 96 
 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 xxxiv 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 25 sqq. 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 *xxxvii 1 sqq. 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 
 29 
 
 2 
 
 56 
 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 55 
 
 vi 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 189 
 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 vii 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 162 
 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 viii 
 
 tl6 
 
 4 
 
 133 
 
 xlii 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 97 
 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 185 
 
 fxliii 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 32 
 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 *xliv 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 145, &c. 
 
 ix 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 fxlviii 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 Ix 
 
 4 sqq. 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 flxxii 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 194 
 
 X 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 70 
 
 flxxiv 
 
 8,9 
 
 4 
 
 210 
 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 flxxvi 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 Ixxx 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 xi 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 193
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 xiii 
 
 \sqq. 
 
 1 
 
 10,24 
 
 xxxiv 
 
 t2 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 66 
 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 67 
 
 xiv 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 1 
 
 10,24 
 
 XXXV 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 185 
 
 xli 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 188 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 194 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 til 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 
 25 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 133 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 194 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 188 
 
 xlvi 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 xvii 
 
 t6 
 
 1 
 
 15,28,32 
 
 xlix 
 
 22 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 94 
 
 1 
 
 10,11 
 
 2 
 
 50 
 
 xxiii 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 xxiv 
 
 *1 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 li 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 81 
 
 Iviii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 
 \sqq. 
 
 3 
 
 94 
 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 95 
 
 
 *3 
 
 3 
 
 79 
 
 
 fll 
 
 3 
 
 96 
 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 82 
 
 Ixii 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 70 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 83 
 
 Ixiii 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 202 
 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 87 
 
 Ixv 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 185 
 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 15 
 56 
 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 ih. , 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 94 
 
 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 
 
 *14, 15 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 ii 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 50 
 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 ih. 
 
 iv 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 134 
 
 
 17 
 
 2 
 
 56 
 
 vi 
 
 \sqq. 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 23 
 
 xxvi 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 74 
 
 
 23 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 157 
 
 viii 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 xxvii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 185 
 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 
 132,133, 
 
 xxviii 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 ix 
 
 t4 
 
 4 
 
 203 [154 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 58 
 
 XXX 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 
 t2 
 
 47 
 
 
 *21 
 
 2 
 
 42,53,58 
 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 94 
 
 
 *22 sq. 
 
 2 
 
 42,58 
 
 
 26 
 
 4 
 
 192 
 
 x 
 
 13 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 xxxii 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 32 
 
 xii 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 186 
 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 ih. 
 
 xvi 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 151, 152 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 157 
 
 xviii 
 
 21 
 
 2 
 
 53 
 
 xxxiii 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 31 , 32 
 
 xxi 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 151 
 
 
 \sqq. 
 
 3 
 
 94 
 
 xxiii 
 
 19 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 
 *xxv 
 
 \sqq. 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 100 
 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 ih.
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 XXV 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 xiv 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 22 sqq. 
 
 1 
 
 14,15 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 42,52 
 
 
 26 
 
 1 
 
 41 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 
 27 
 
 1 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 +22 
 
 1 
 
 28,31 
 
 
 29 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 
 +23 
 
 1 
 
 31 
 
 
 30 
 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 xvi 
 
 27 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 *xxv 
 
 32 
 
 1 
 
 23 
 
 xxi 
 
 22 
 
 E. 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 xxviii 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 XXX 
 
 Id 
 
 1 
 
 31 
 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 xxxviii 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 151 
 
 xxxvii 
 
 9 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 xlv 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 34 
 
 xxxviii 
 
 21 
 
 4 
 
 203 
 
 xlvi 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 xxxix 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 4 
 
 198 
 
 xlix 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 186 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 1 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 1 
 
 10,24 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 199 
 
 
 *9 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 38 
 
 4 
 
 193 
 
 
 21*^5'. 
 
 4 
 
 198 
 
 
 41 
 
 1 
 
 23,25 
 
 xl 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 39 
 
 
 44 
 
 4 
 
 186 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 li 
 
 \sqq. 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 32 
 
 4 
 
 193 
 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 36 
 
 4 
 
 lb. 
 
 xliii 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 189 
 
 
 41 
 
 1 
 
 '2b 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 48 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 lii 
 
 Isqq. 
 11 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 151 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 41 
 
 4 
 
 136 
 
 
 EZKKIEL. 
 
 
 iii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 140 
 
 i 
 
 16 
 
 
 21 
 
 iv 
 
 27 
 
 3 
 
 96 
 
 fvii 
 
 10 
 
 
 35,37 
 
 vi 
 
 25 
 
 E. 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 vii 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 117 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 37 
 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 viii 
 
 3 
 
 
 35 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 122 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 37 
 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 117,123 
 
 *ix 
 
 2 
 
 
 38 
 
 
 21 
 
 4 
 
 117 
 
 
 
 
 101 
 
 
 23 
 
 4 
 
 122 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 39 
 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 136 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 25 
 
 4 
 
 117 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 40 
 
 viii 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 41 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 xiii 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 171 
 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 37
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers 
 
 . 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag, 
 
 Chap 
 
 .Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 4 
 
 117 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 
 23 sqq. 
 
 4 
 
 117,129 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 150,155 
 
 xi 
 
 21 
 
 
 4 
 
 129 
 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 
 31 
 
 
 1 
 
 37 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 157 
 
 
 ,11 
 
 1 
 
 38 
 
 
 t32 
 
 
 4 
 
 142, 143 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 150 
 
 
 35 
 
 
 4 
 
 142 
 
 
 \1sqq. 
 
 4 
 
 150, 153 
 
 
 *36 
 
 
 4 
 
 117, 158 
 
 
 \Qsqq. 
 
 4 
 
 151, 157 
 
 
 38 
 
 
 4 
 
 159 
 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 170 
 
 
 *1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 xii 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 152 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 134 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 142 
 
 
 32 
 
 
 31 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 4 
 
 ih. 
 
 Hi 
 
 2 
 9 
 
 
 12 sqq. 
 197 
 
 
 
 HOSEA. 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 15 
 
 ii 
 
 ^sqq. 
 
 3 
 
 78 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 3 
 
 79 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 ih. 
 
 iv 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 
 
 196 . 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 16 
 
 vi 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 204 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 15,16 
 196 
 
 
 
 Joel. 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 15 
 
 •i 
 
 2 
 
 
 4 
 
 134,152 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 16,38 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 85 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 84 
 
 
 Amos. 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 153, 154 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 3 
 
 85, 155 
 
 iv 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 79 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 7, 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 
 *iy 
 
 3 
 
 73, 79 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 73 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 3 
 
 87 
 
 V 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 80 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 3 
 
 87 
 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 4 
 
 157 
 
 vi 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 74,79 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 4 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 4 
 
 210 
 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 74 
 
 
 19 
 
 
 3 ' 
 
 88 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 3 
 
 ih. 
 
 viii 
 
 11 
 
 E. 
 
 25 
 
 *ii 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 
 Obadiah. 
 
 
 
 t2 
 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 150,154 
 
 
 *21 
 
 1 
 
 32 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 194
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 
 Jonah. 
 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pao. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 xiv 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 155,156 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 55 
 
 iv 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 193 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 Malachi. 
 
 
 
 MiCAK. 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 E. 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 iii 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 vi 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 80 
 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 33, 34 
 
 
 11 sq^. 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 iv 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 71 
 
 
 Nahum. 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 175 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 E. 
 
 47 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 33,34 
 
 
 2 ESDRAS. 
 
 
 ii 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 135 
 
 xiii 
 
 42 sgq. 
 
 4 
 
 194 
 
 
 Habakkuk. 
 
 
 XV 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 91 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 sqq. 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 i 
 
 8 
 
 
 154 
 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 ii 
 
 5 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 92 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 14 sqq. 
 
 3 
 
 92,93 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 38 
 
 3 
 
 102 
 
 iii 
 
 2 
 
 
 39,40 
 
 xvi 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 86 
 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 
 186 
 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 93 
 
 
 Zephaniah. 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 i 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 39 
 
 
 29*^^. 
 30 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 93 
 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 
 40 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 ii 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 157, 158 
 
 
 TOBIT. 
 
 
 iii 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 iv 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 78 
 
 
 Zechariah. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wisdom. 
 
 
 ii 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 E. 
 
 35 
 
 i 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 147 
 
 iii 
 
 1 
 
 E. 
 
 ib. 
 
 vii 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 142 
 
 iv 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 176 
 
 
 27 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 177 
 
 xvii 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 193 
 
 vi 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 xviii 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 ix 
 
 6 
 9 
 
 4 
 2 
 
 ib. 
 
 70 
 
 
 ECCLESIASTICUS. 
 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 45 
 
 iii 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 X 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 193 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 *xi 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 
 106 
 
 iv 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 142 
 
 xii 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 195, 196 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 xiii 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 ix 
 
 9 sqg. 
 
 2 
 
 47
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap, 
 xxxix 
 xlviii 
 
 Vers. Part. 
 29 2 
 10 4 
 
 1 Maccabees 
 
 Pag. 
 
 53 
 
 176 
 
 
 Chap, 
 xxiv 
 
 Vers. 
 21 
 12 
 22 
 24 
 
 Part. 
 
 *1 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 E. 
 
 Pag. 
 1 
 131,152, 
 182 (182 
 21,42 
 
 i 
 
 37 
 
 4 
 
 125 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 160 
 
 
 2 Maccabees 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 29 
 32,33 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 67 
 206 
 
 is 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 57 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 E. 
 
 45 
 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 XXV 
 
 35 
 
 3 
 
 100 
 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 Mark. 
 
 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 
 
 vi 
 
 42 
 
 E. 
 
 27 
 
 iii 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 
 viii 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 125 
 
 iv 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 77 
 
 
 xi 
 
 22,23 
 
 4 
 
 142 
 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 • 24 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 V 
 
 vi 
 
 5 
 32 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 22 
 77 
 
 
 xiii 
 
 1 sqq. 
 8 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 206 
 81, 111 
 
 X 
 
 IQ 
 
 4 
 
 116 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 34 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 xiii 
 
 31 
 
 4 
 
 143 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 E. 
 
 28 
 
 
 32 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 *19 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 xiv 
 
 26 
 
 £. 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 150 
 
 xvi 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 162 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 152 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 206 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 E. 
 
 45 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 126 
 
 
 xvi 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 142,144 
 
 xvii 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 176 
 
 
 
 
 E. 
 
 36 
 
 xxi 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 42 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 142,155 
 
 
 21 
 22 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 142 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 Luke. 
 
 
 xxii 
 
 37 
 
 2 
 
 47 
 
 
 i 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 176 
 
 
 38 
 
 3 
 
 82 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 xxiv 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 205 
 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
 E. 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 t6 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 4 
 
 133 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 217 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 4 
 
 134 
 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 3, 
 
 11 
 
 iv 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 50, 
 
 53 
 
 X 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 155 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 73,81 
 
 xi 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 3, 
 
 11 
 
 
 29 
 
 4 
 
 163 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 210 
 
 
 xii 
 
 29 
 
 4 
 
 23 
 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 4 
 
 206 
 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 36 
 
 
 xvii 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 143 
 
 
 21 
 
 E. 
 
 28 
 
 
 xxi 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 8
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers 
 
 . Part. 
 
 Pag 
 
 
 Cliap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag 
 
 xxi 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 206 
 
 
 vi 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 
 vii 
 
 23 
 
 I 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 101 
 
 
 viii 
 
 4 
 
 E. 
 
 32 
 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 50,53,67 
 
 X 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 94 
 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 xiii 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 82 
 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 3, 
 
 11 
 
 
 2 Corinthians. 
 
 
 25 
 
 2 
 
 67 
 
 
 i 
 
 22 
 
 E. 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 101 
 
 
 iv 
 
 7 
 
 E. 
 
 32 
 
 
 26 
 
 2 
 
 68 
 
 
 
 til 
 
 4 
 
 151 
 
 
 28 
 
 1 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 E. 
 
 32 
 
 
 36 
 
 E. 
 
 28, 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 
 
 xxiii 
 
 30 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 Galatians. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 143 
 
 
 
 John. 
 
 
 
 vi 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 V 
 
 18 
 *43 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 120 
 113, 
 
 120 
 
 
 17 
 
 E. 
 
 33 
 
 vi 
 
 27 
 
 E. 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 Ephesians. 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 3 
 
 94 
 
 
 i 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 37 
 
 X 
 
 35 
 
 4 
 
 114 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 E. 
 
 23 
 
 XV 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 164 
 
 xvii 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 Acts. 
 
 37 
 
 
 
 18 
 22 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 113 
 
 ib. 
 
 i 
 ii 
 
 7 
 39 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 205 
 143 
 
 
 iv 
 
 Isqq. 
 8sqq. 
 13 
 
 4 
 4 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 144 
 37 
 
 iii 
 
 21 
 
 4 
 
 176, 
 
 204 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 110 
 
 vii 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 J6 
 
 4 
 
 111 
 
 viii 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 126 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 1 
 
 31 
 
 xi 
 
 28 
 
 E. 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 171 
 
 xii 
 
 23 
 
 2 
 
 57 
 
 
 vi 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 180 
 
 
 Romans. 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 153 
 
 viii 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 114 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 Philippians 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 44 
 
 
 ii 
 
 9,10 
 
 E. 
 
 36 
 
 
 24 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 
 iii 
 iv 
 
 19 
 11 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 78 
 94 
 
 
 1 Corinthians. 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 112 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 
 iv 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 28 
 
 
 i 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 3
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers, 
 
 Part. Pag. 
 
 
 Hebrews. 
 
 
 i 
 ii 
 
 24 
 9 
 
 4 111 
 1 3 
 
 Chap, 
 i 
 
 Vers. 
 2 
 3 
 
 Part. 
 4 
 E. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 113 
 
 32 
 
 
 1 Thessalonians. j 
 
 ii 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 111 
 
 iv 
 
 V 
 
 15,17 
 
 t3 
 4 
 
 E. 29 
 1 5,6 
 
 4 204, 209 
 
 iii 
 iv 
 
 18 
 12 
 19 
 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 
 187 
 201 
 187 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 180, 209 
 
 
 James. 
 
 
 
 2 Thessalonians. 
 
 *iv 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 ih. 
 
 ii 
 
 2 
 
 E. 29 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 35 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 113 
 
 
 
 4 130 
 
 V 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 165 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 117, 158 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 127 
 
 
 1 Peter. 
 
 
 
 8- 
 
 4 203 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 161 
 
 i 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 
 10 s^^. 
 
 3 103 
 
 4 161 
 
 iv 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 113 
 
 
 2 Peter. 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 113,209 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 114 
 
 
 15 
 
 4 i&, 
 P. ii 
 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 
 1 Timothy. 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 34 
 
 iv 
 
 Isqq 
 
 . 4 117,159 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 98 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 159 
 
 
 8 
 9 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 34 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 2 Timothy. 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 
 iii 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 ii 
 
 11 
 12 
 
 2 44 
 2 ?6. 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 47 
 
 
 26 
 
 2 45 
 
 
 1 
 
 John. 
 
 
 iii 
 
 1 
 
 1 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 47 
 
 ii 
 
 *16 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 /6. 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 43 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 11 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 73,75 
 
 
 
 2 47 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 113, 121 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 11 
 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 114 
 
 
 
 2 47 
 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 113,120 
 
 
 5 
 
 2 46 
 
 
 23 
 
 4 
 
 113
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap, 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Vers. 
 
 Part. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 iv 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 113 
 
 *xi 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 179, 180 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 xii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 141 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 113,121 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 149 
 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 82 
 
 
 6 
 
 E. 
 
 48,49 
 
 V 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 
 12 
 14 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 183 
 182 
 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 
 *xiii 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 134 
 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 154, 16d 
 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 139 
 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 159 
 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 5,11 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 139 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 47 
 
 
 \^sqq. 
 
 4 
 
 139, 160 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 160, 161 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 E. 
 
 149 
 31 
 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 177 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 170, 173 
 
 ii 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 29 
 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 38 
 
 iii 
 
 *10 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 171 
 
 
 12 
 
 E. 
 
 24 
 
 xiv 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 28,31 
 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 149 
 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 V 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 154 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 192 
 
 vi 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 192 
 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 \6 
 
 *vii 
 
 1 
 
 E. 
 
 42 
 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 29 
 
 XV 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 E. 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 181 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 29,39 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 bsqq. 
 
 4 
 
 132 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 E. 
 
 23 
 
 
 6*^^. 
 
 4 
 
 189 
 
 viii 
 
 23 
 
 E. 
 
 24 
 
 *xvi 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 190 
 
 ix 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 152 
 
 
 *2 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 ih. 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 191 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 139 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 192 
 
 *xi 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 154.158 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 149 
 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 193 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 E. 
 
 47 
 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 195 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 174 
 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 176 
 
 
 
 E. 
 
 25 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 165, 177 
 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 
 195 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 177 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 197 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 178 
 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 9sqq 
 
 4 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 ib.
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. Vers. Part. Pag. 
 xvii '^sqq. 4 145,197 
 
 xvin 
 *xix 
 
 5 
 12 
 13 
 15 
 16 
 
 \sqq. 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 8 
 
 149 
 136 
 ib. 
 149 
 136 
 197 
 ib. 
 36 
 
 Chap. Vers. 
 *xix 11 
 
 XX 
 
 xxii 
 
 12 
 
 13 sqq. 
 17 
 18 
 20 
 21 
 8 
 16 
 
 Part. Pag. 
 4 200 
 
 ib. 
 201 
 198, 199 
 
 ib. 
 203 
 ib. 
 198 
 
 25 
 
 THE END. 
 
 MARCHANT, PRINTER, I>rOEAM-eO V RT, LONDON.
 
 '^"'i'^r^ad Word.
 
 THE INDEX. 
 
 Chap. Vers. Part. Pag. 
 
 \sqq. 4 145,197 
 
 xvii 
 
 XVllI 
 
 *xix 
 
 5 
 12 
 13 
 15 
 16 
 
 Isqq. 
 
 Isgq. 
 8 
 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 I 
 
 Chap. Vers. Part. Pag 
 
 '^xix 
 
 149 
 136 
 ib. 
 149 
 136 
 197 
 ib. 
 36 
 
 XX 
 
 xxii 
 
 11 
 12 
 
 13 sqq. 
 17 
 18 
 20 
 21 
 8 
 16 
 
 200 
 
 ib. 
 201 
 198, 199 
 
 ib. 
 
 203 
 
 ib. 
 
 198 
 
 25 
 
 MAHCH..T, P„:k.,„, X>,OB.„-eo.aT, .o.nON. ,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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